thomas reeves

Thomas Reeves – Business Admin Apprentice

Thomas, business admin apprentice at Wondrwall, has received a distinction in his apprenticeship end-point assessment.

How has the apprenticeship impacted on you?

One of the ways the apprenticeship has impacted on my life is that it has allowed me to manage my time more effectively both personally and professionally. As I must allocate time to my apprenticeship, I have been able to schedule my time to make sure I complete the required amount of training while making sure I can still complete work tasks. The skill of time management has come in especially useful when I have been busy with my quotes, as I have had to allocate more time to my quotes on some occasions while making sure I do some extra apprenticeship work to compensate at some point later in time. The apprenticeship has also allowed me to be more professional when in the workplace especially when writing emails as the training went over how to formal emails, for example, which has been useful when I have had to contact customers or suppliers.

How will the apprenticeship training continue to impact on you in the future?

The IT training aspect of the course will continue to impact my future, especially when it comes to creating spreadsheets. Learning about spreadsheets both within the workplace and through my training now allows me to create spreadsheets that use more formulas and are more effective than just creating a table of values that can’t be edited easily without having to adjust other aspects of the spreadsheet. My spreadsheets are now more automated and will continue to improve in the future as I use them more and learn about new features from my colleagues.

How has the apprenticeship impacted on your organisation?

The parts of the apprenticeship where I have had to train others will impact Wondrwall both now and in the future because as Wondrwall expands, I will be required to train new employees who must create Wondrwall quotes for customers. This is also happening now as I have training two new members of staff on how to complete Wondrwall quotes. I have been able to explain and go over the quote process with them and they are now able to create Wondrwall quotes, and they will hopefully be able to train others as well as the company expands further.

The project management tool I have created is also having a positive impact on Wondrwall as we intend to adjust the tool so we can use it in a variety of different projects that Wondrwall deal with, which will make our ability to deal with projects more effectively.

How has Damar’s approach to training contributed to the impact of the apprenticeship on you and your organisation?

The fact that all the training is online is useful as it has meant I can work on my training at times during the day which suits me and Wondrwall. For example, I usually complete an hour and a half of training when I start my working day. However, when I have had to prioritize work, I have been able to do it at a different time. My coach Andi has also had a positive effect on me and my organisation as the meetings have allowed my line manager and I to see where I may need to improve in areas and where I have been progressing well. He’s also available when I need help on my apprenticeship and responds promptly to resolve any issues.

Why did you decide to do an apprenticeship?

I chose to do an apprenticeship because I wanted to work in a business-related role but, I only had one years’ experience in retail and the BTEC business and financial studies course I had completed at college. I thought the best option would be to look for an apprenticeship and the business administration apprenticeship Wondrwall and Damar were offering seemed best as I would be trained in business administration, learning how to create quotes and use the Sage system while earning a qualification which could be used in the future.

What activities do you do in your day-to-day role?

One of the main activities I do in my day-to-day role is quoting for the Wondrwall system. This involves me taking a set of floor plans for a home, and seeing how many of our Wondrwall switches are needed to control the lighting. I also measure all the rooms and complete the heating calculations to see how many infrared panels are needed, making sure I provide an appropriately-sized water cylinder for the amount of people I estimate will be in the home. Finally, I work out how much solar is needed by taking the roof measurements and recreating the roof in our solar design software where I can see how many panels, we can fit on the roof depending on roof space, roof obstacles and orientation. Once I have completed the design for the home, I then put these details in the Sage system and create a quote which the sales team can send to customers.

I also process orders on Sage, organise it to be picked and, once I know the size of the shipment, I organise a courier to collect the order and deliver it to the customer. I answer the phone and I make sure I take all the caller’s details and pass it onto the relevant person if I can’t deal with the caller or can’t transfer it to someone who can.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy completing my quotes as the properties are always different and require different designs, so the job doesn’t get repetitive and is interesting. I’m also enjoying processing orders as it’s something new and lets me deal with more aspects of the financial side of the business, such as creating delivery notes and invoices. Overall, the job is great because I get to learn about a range of different things, whether that be the Wondrwall products and how we quote for them or how we deal with the orders.

What are your future career plans?

My future career plans are to start dealing with orders more within my job role as I think this is the best route for me since it has a lot of career options. But before that I will still be working on my quotes and when the business gets to a point where it can expand further, I will be training someone to take other quotes so I can focus more on processing orders moving onto this side of the business.