Protyre - Story - Chris & Conor's Story
Chris Birrell, Centre Manager for Eastleigh started at Protyre as an apprentice. “I went to college after I left school, but didn’t enjoy it. There weren’t many jobs I could see myself doing either, which is why I started to look at apprenticeships. I talked it over with my Mum and applied to Protyre. About six months later I got invited to an interview. I chatted to a few people in the centre and at ProVQ and thought I’d give it a go and see where it took me. That was in 2015. After about a year I had the choice of a job in the office. I decided to take the job in the office because it was a good way to learn about the business. That was my first step towards management – answering phones, booking in stock, building invoices and dealing with customers. I got promoted to Assistant Manager in Christchurch and then took on the role of Centre Manager at Eastleigh.”
Chris is now supporting an apprentice in his own team because he believes in giving people a chance to build their career. Connor: “I was similar to Chris. I went to college to study engineering, but I wasn’t enjoying it. The training centre at ProVQ is split into buildings for theory and the workshop. It’s pretty good and the teachers are really good at mixing the theory and practical – I learnt loads, more than I expected in one week.”