Some of the best engineers don’t arrive fully formed — they’re made, if you back them properly. Jamie Benn is exactly that story, and it’s one we’re proud of.
A second chance at 17
Jamie came to us halfway through the first year of his apprenticeship. His original employer had laid him off through no fault of his own — they simply didn’t have the work. He was 17, young and green, one day a week at college and still finding his feet in the trade. We took him on, paired him up predominantly with one of our lead engineers, Stefan, and got him back out on the tools.
The lad who taught himself
What happened next is the bit that tells you who Jamie is. He didn’t just turn up and coast. He was buying his own books, doing his own research of an evening, wanting to understand the why — how boilers actually work, how different heating systems are designed, why one setup suits a house and another doesn’t. He and Stefan built a genuine working relationship, and that on-site mentoring — a young apprentice learning shoulder-to-shoulder with an experienced engineer — is worth more than any classroom on its own.
Then something clicked. It wasn’t just us who noticed — college saw it, Stefan saw it, we all did. The quality of his work jumped to a different level. He started bending his own pipes rather than reaching for fittings. He was polishing his pipework. He was planning his routes and thinking a boiler install through properly before he touched a spanner, instead of just throwing it in. That’s the difference between someone who does the job and someone who takes pride in it.
Training we backed to the hilt
Talent like that deserves investment, so we put it in. We persevered with manufacturer training to get him certified on the kit we fit. We worked closely with his college and went the extra mile to get him the best training available, on top of the day-to-day, hands-on learning on site. When an apprentice shows they’ll meet you halfway, we’ll go the whole way with them.
Every kind of job going
Because of the breadth of work we do, Jamie has seen it all — and that variety is how you build a complete engineer. One day it’s changing a tap washer for a Comfort Club member; the next it’s a full domestic boiler install; then it’s onto commercial installs and even air conditioning work. He’s had a proper look at every corner of this trade, not just the same job on repeat.
Qualified — and setting the standard
Jamie passed his ACS at college and got fully qualified. He’s now out on the road on his own, leading by example and being a shining light for our other apprentices — the living proof of the standard we work to. And he’s not stopping there: he’s working through his commercial qualifications now and finding his own path in the trade.
Not bad for a lad who was laid off at 17. That’s what happens when hard work meets a firm that backs it.
Fancy a career like Jamie Benn’s?
We’re hiring across Greater Manchester and the North West, and every advert has the real salary band on it. See our open roles.