Seventeen year old Marcus Thompson from Langley Moor has joined an award-winning County Durham company and is also the first social media apprentice on the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) Training programme.
Marcus is working for Reprotec which has two bases in Langley Moor, a head office in the High Street and factory on the town’s industrial estate. It specialises in the installation of resin-based products for construction, manufacturing and utility companies including Nissan, Northumbrian Water and Pepsico.
Reprotec’s Managing Director John Holmes said: “We launched an e-commerce website three years ago to complement our resin business and it has been seeing such substantial growth we decided to exploit this with a social media push. We know there is massive potential through these channels and Marcus will be leading on these and our web development.”
Andrew Robson, NECC Training, Head of Training said; “We have worked with Reprotec before and are delighted to be supporting them in developing Marcus’s social media skills. This apprenticeship was devised in response to regional companies requiring more employees with a whole range of new media and marketing knowledge. “
Established 28 years ago, Reprotec has a history of innovation and boasts five employees from the first 19 nationally to be awarded NVQs in resin flooring. Elliott Lindsay, Malcolm Carr, Lee Cox, Darren Carr and David Crossling are all still with the business in senior roles with Maclolm and Darren Carr both having 20 years’ service under their belts.
Reprotec’s whole business ethos has been built on training its workforce since it was re-launched 12 years ago, with a new focus on business improvement and staff development, led by John Holmes’ wife, Lesley. In recent years it has picked up honours regionally and nationally from bodies including the Federation of Resin Flooring industry awards, Investors in People (three times) and it was a finalist this year in the Small Business of the Year award for Sunderland, Durham and South Tyneside.
The company has 18 employees and part of its current expansion is due to a growing appetite for environmental products. Its ‘green’ approach to business has seen it awarded an International Corporate Social Responsibility for Sustainability and they recently gained another Industry First in recognition of its recycling and waste policy which has resulted in “nothing sent to landfill sites”.
John Holmes said: “We are passionate about encouraging our workforce to develop themselves. Marcus himself feels he was not able to do himself justice at school but has already proved to me he is a hard worker who wants to capitalise on the opportunities he has here. We wholeheartedly recommend NECC Training’s social media apprenticeship as it is a perfect fit for both Marcus’ and our needs.”
Any business interested in finding out more about the NECC Training social media apprenticeship programme should contact Suzanne Slater or Nadine Baister on 0300 303 6322.