Reflecting on National Apprenticeship Week

As we reflect on National Apprenticeship Week last week, we’ve got an inspiring father and son story to share.

Paul Marshall is a site manager for Morrison Energy Services. His son, Callum, is now following in his footsteps as a High Voltage Electrical Fitter Apprentice with the business.

We talked to Paul about what it’s like to work together and Callum’s determination to follow in his dad’s footsteps.

Paul’s story:

“I have been working on National Grid Substations for the last 30 years. I started as a local labourer for GEC Alstom in 1993 and have been working for Morrison Energy Services for the last 14 years. In that time, I have worked my way up to site manager.

“Callum, my son, left school and went to college to do electrical engineering, but was unsure of what he wanted to do so he took a job working with my wife in a charity for Autistic children. He was also delivering parcels for Hermes to earn extra money.

“He kept asking to join me at Morrison Energy Services but at the time he was not old enough – he needed to be 18 years old to work on a National Grid substation.

“Callum was about to start work with us, when COVID-19 hit and everything came to a stop. He did eventually start work through an agency as a labourer where he worked on a couple of sites with me including Iron Acton Substation and a Battery Storage Plant in Barrow in Furness. He also worked in the office at Caldicot with Stephen George, Construction Manager at Morrison Energy Services.

“When the opportunity came for Callum to apply for an apprenticeship it was exactly what he wanted giving him the chance to learn the industry properly.

“When Callum applied for the apprenticeship, he was initially unsuccessful due to two other individuals scoring higher on the assessments. This left Callum feeling really disappointed at not being successful. However, Morrison Energy Services then decided that they would take three apprentices on instead of the original two, giving Callum the opportunity and becoming the 3^rd apprentice on our 2021 cohort!

”Callum was delighted when Morrison Energy Services decided to take on three apprentices instead of two and he was one of the lucky trio.

“He is now in his second year as an apprentice and has gained a lot of experience through college and various National Grid Substations. Callum has had a lot of training provided through the Apprenticeship Development Scheme (ADS) from personal development, mental health, to being a Mobile Elevating Work Platform Operator (MEWP) operator

Paul added: “I am very proud of my career with Morrison Energy Services, as well as my sons’.

What an inspiring way to end National Apprenticeship Week. We have enjoyed sharing stories from our apprentices across M Group Services and look forward to seeing how they continue to thrive in their apprenticeships and future careers.

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