Georgia Whitelegg

• Business Administrator Apprentice
• Manchester HQ

Business apprentice Georgia Whitelegg has GCSEs in English and maths among others, but it is her geography she has been brushing up on since joining Lanes Group plc.

Georgia, aged 18, is thriving after starting a 15-month business administration apprenticeship while working in the drainage specialist’s marketing department in Eccles, Greater Manchester.

She said: “I’m really enjoying the job and the studying. I feel I am being given a lot of responsibility, but I’m fully supported and I’m part of a friendly and professional team.

“As a national business with depots all over the UK, every day has been a geography lesson because I am helping online customers every day and need to find the right depot to best look after their needs.”

Georgia’s sights have also been raised in terms of a career in business. After leaving All Hallows School in Eccles with five GSCEs, the 18-year-old first considered training for a career in childcare.

But after a rethink about what she really wanted to do, in August 2018 she was accepted by Lanes as an apprentice, through QA Apprenticeships, to work towards an NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration.

Georgia works full-time, apart from two days a month, when she attends a training centre to be taught modules for her course. She also gets half a day a week set aside to complete her course work. 

At the end of her apprenticeship, Georgia will sit an exam. If she passes that and her course work, she can continue her studies, for example taking an NVQ Level 4 in Marketing or Business Administration.

For now, though, Georgia has an important role in the Lanes marketing team, carrying out a varied range of tasks. 

She said: “I help prepare marketing mailouts on email and in letters, which involves researching target audiences, respond to online service enquiries and support the company’s 22 depots with their own sales activity.

“That’s just the start of it. There’s never a dull moment and I’m learning new things every day. I definitely made the right choice coming to Lanes. It’s a very supportive and worthwhile place to train and learn.”