Blast from the past | An Apprentice’ Story

A bit of nostalgia for our readers today with a blast from the past and a moment to appreciate a real-life demonstration of personal ambition and achievement.

With a focus on the importance of Education in the form of development and training opportunities, we look back on a time of how and when some of our essential members of the team came to join us over a decade ago!

If a photograph could speak, it is undoubtable that this absolute gem would speak a thousand words! Taken at the Halfway House, for what looks like a Christmas Party, here we see our Managing Director Dan and alongside him Luke, Reece, James and Dean (Deano) all averaging 17 years old. (Left to right)

Lads on tour almost springs to mind! Either that or it’s clearly a group of prosperous young men with a lot to celebrate in their budding successful careers with Surgical Holdings!

Since joining his Dad Phillip Coole in 1995, Dan had been working within the family business for 15 years by this point, before taking the company from strength to strength when he took over as Managing Director.

     But despite the obvious bonds between the young lads in the photo- the initial union of this group goes back even further.

For Luke, Reece and James, it begins back when the boys were of secondary school age. The trio, all schooled together during their secondary years at Chalvedon School, Basildon.

Separate from their shared lesson timetable, they played football for Berry with James’ Dad Trevor as their coach having formed a new team in Year 9.

It was when Reece and James were moving on to the same college together, at a time when apprenticeship programmes were recommended, it was casually mentioned by Trevor that the boys take up an opportunity at Surgical Holdings whilst completing their college qualifications.

It was 13 years ago that Trevor’s suggestion came into play and the lads each took up positions within the Surgical Holdings workshop. Having joined the team as keen apprentices, they have now all grown as men, worked together for this prime decade of their lives and in turn have not only become responsible in their workplace for being the most experienced in their fields, but also as Fathers to gorgeous little people!

Today in 2021, Reece is still working with us as the Assistant Manager within the Production department and now has two daughters; Bella aged 7 and Pippa, 3.

Luke is now Operations Manager running multiple departments in Office, Order, Dispatch and Repairs also with a 3-year-old daughter, Harper.

James is now one of our most specialist Repair Technicians who has a 2-year-old boy Callum.

Trevor still works as the Polisher us all these years later, still dedicated to the company. And last but not least, our Technician Deano has an army of 4 little ones; Beau 10, Dolly 7, Willow 3 and Lulah 2

On reflection, it has been a positive experience for the guys to look back on how far they have come within the company and themselves as individuals. It is amazing to see how well they have done establishing themselves in the industry and the valuable experience they have each earned making Surgical Holdings the family run business it is today, with personal values streamlined into the day to day practice of their work.

At Surgical Holdings we frequently run apprentice programmes and are always keen to deliver on the Education sector, actively promoting continuous learning, growth, and personal development.

At present, we currently have Jamie who is 21 years old and has been here for 2 years. Jamie joined us from Procat College and is studying L3 Engineering.

John is also with us and is our most recent addition to our apprenticeship programme. John is also 21 and has just completed his L3 Craft Engineering qualification also at Procat, Basildon.

So following on from this valuable blast from the past, we consciously continue to invest our time into giving young aspiring adults the opportunity to be part of something established, and we make every effort to adapt with the times, be flexible, embrace learning, and always look to ways that we can improve our knowledge and be relatable as a favourable choice for the apprentices of today.