EE apprentices take on the National Brathay Challenge

James Worville, Andy Lane and Zander White from EE

Brathay Challenge

EE has announced a nine strong team of apprentices to take part in the National Brathay Challenge 2016. The challenge will see teams from across the country compete to promote the advantages of apprenticeships to young people and local businesses, in a bid to win the title of ‘apprentice team of the year’.

For a chance to reach the grand final in June, the team has been tasked with demonstrating team building, leadership, logistical and communication skills through their work in the local community. The team is already hard at work and will be visiting a local primary school in Lawrence Weston to rejuvenate its gardens for the children to enjoy. They are also arranging a tour of local schools during National Apprenticeship Week to raise awareness of the benefits of apprenticeships for young people.

The EE apprentices are also arranging an apprentice and department head shadowing programme within EE to educate the business internally, which will also take place during National Apprentice Week. James Worville, a member of the EE apprentice team, will be shadowing Michelle Willis-Whitehead, Director of Technology Operations at EE, giving James valuable insight into the role and demonstrating what it takes to rise to the top.

But the team hasn’t stopped there. They’ve already been presenting to local businesses on the benefits of taking on apprentices from the local community, with many of the businesses having shown an interest in apprenticeship schemes and how they can benefit them.

Zander White, Technical Support Engineer Apprentice at EE, said “It’s fantastic to be involved in the Brathay Challenge this year - we have thousands of apprentices across EE and it’s great we can showcase the benefits of apprenticeships. We get to build on existing skills and develop new ones, while also helping the local community. We’re committed and passionate in everything we do, and that’s why we believe we have a winning team that can really make a difference promoting the advantages of apprenticeships to the local area.”

Patrick Bradley, HR Director at EE said, “We’ve always been proud to see the positive influence our apprentices have in their local communities, and the Brathay Challenge is a fantastic way to showcase their work. It’s great to see the passion they bring to work every day go into raising awareness of the benefits of apprenticeships with young people and local businesses. Giving young people opportunities through apprenticeships is a core part of EE’s culture, and we’re excited to see the team take to the national stage, where we’ll be cheering them on all the way.”

EE was recently named The Sunday Times’ highest ranked large technology company to work for and has recruited over 1,300 apprentices since it launched its programme in 2012.

The Brathay Challenge is supported by the National Apprenticeship Service and thousands of apprentices have entered into this year’s contest. Finalists will be announced in May at the House of Commons before going on to compete in a logistical and team building finale at Brathay Trust’s Windermere headquarters from 13^th – 16^th June.

For more information please visit:

http://jobs.ee.co.uk/graduates-and-apprentices/apprentices/

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Notes to editors

EE Brathay Challenge team 2016

Zander White (team leader)

Kai Chanter Campbell

Pollyanna Major

Joseph Marjason

Megan Meddings

Douglas Nelson

Agnieszka Struzyna

Ben Wright

James Worville

For more information, please contact the EE press team on:

ee@nelsonbostock.com

0845 373 7070

About EE

EE, part of the BT Group, is the largest and most advanced mobile communications company in Britain, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers and businesses. EE has approximately 14,000 employees and 550 retail stores, and serves more than 31 million connections across its mobile, fixed and wholesale networks.

EE runs the UK's biggest and fastest mobile network, it pioneered the UK's first superfast 4G mobile service in October 2012 and is the first European operator to surpass 14million 4G customers. EE's 4G coverage today reaches more than 95% of the UK population, with double speed 4G reaching 80%. EE’s 2G coverage reaches 99% of the population while 3G reaches 98%.

In the last few years, EE has received extensive independent recognition, including being ranked the UK's best overall network by RootMetrics®; Best Network at the 2014 and 2015 Mobile News Awards; Best Network for Business and Best Consumer Network at the 2014 & 2015 Mobile Industry Awards; Best Network at the 2014 & 2015 Mobile Choice Consumer Awards, and Best Network at the What Mobile Awards 2014; Fastest Network at the 2014 and 2016 uSwitch Mobile Awards; Best Mobile Network at the 2014 Recombu Awards, and Winners of Best Connected Gadget at the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards 2015.