A self-confessed teenage tearaway who ‘turned her life around’ with an engineering apprenticeship has made the regional finals of the National Apprenticeship Awards.

Ambition, aspiration and confidence were not words that featured heavily in 20-year-old Rebecca Wright’s vocabulary, but it is those qualities which have seen her sail through the rigorous regional judging process to make the finals.

Rebecca, who is in the second year of a technical support apprenticeship at the AMRC Training Centre in Sheffield, is employed by the AMRC’s Integrated Manufacturing Group (based at Factory 2050).

She was on holiday in the Caribbean when she found out about her nomination in the Advanced Apprentice of the Year category, which recognises exceptional contribution to a workplace.

Rebecca’s main focus at IMG is computer-aided design (www.amrc.co.uk), business improvement and maintenance in the workshop.

She also manages the 3-D printer to ensure that everything operates efficiently, which prolongs the life of the machine.

Her work to improve the efficiency of the Factory 2050 workshop has already yielded results.

“I was tasked to improve workshop productivity by implementing ‘5S’ lean manufacturing into the workshop. This has improved the average cleaning time by 13min each week, which increases working time.

“I came into the job with knowledge and skills because of my training at the AMRC Training Centre, and my mentor — IMG project engineer James Lindsay — has taught me a lot and given me projects.

“I did a lot of shadowing with him at first, but now ‘the reins are off’ and he wants me to be independent — but also to know he’s there if I need any support.

"My apprenticeship has given me ambition and aspiration and made me realise there’s a lot of opportunities here. I would really like to progress and go on to do a degree.”

Mr Lindsay said that everyone at the AMRC is rooting for Rebecca.

“We are all incredibly proud of her and what she’s achieved. She has the right attitude, passion and commitment.”