Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week

National Apprenticeship Week celebrates a program we are passionate about at Star Fireworks. Here is a little information and advice from our latest apprentice Antony.

Antony is one of the team based at our main office, who has a forever growing knowledge of fireworks and special effects. Star Fireworks took him on as a teenager and put him through a Government Funded Apprenticeship and now he is a permanent member of the Star Fireworks team. Antony has had his fair share of apprentice-style jobs, including sweeping the yard, unloading vans and cleaning kit, however we do reward his efforts with trips abroad and a few team days away. Antony has developed his skills since completing his apprenticeship becoming a valuable asset in the office. He has also gained the skills to be able to be dropped into most situations out on our firework display sites, and is on the road to becoming a competent crew member already having his British Pyrotechnists Association Firers Examination qualification under his belt. Here is a small piece written in Antony’s own words of his journey so far.

My name is Antony and I have been working for Star Fireworks since the age of 15, which may sound really young considering the nature of the business! However the team here at Star Fireworks saw how into fireworks I am, did the research and got me a special work permit which allowed me to work at our shop in Bracknell. It started as just doing a few weekends over the busy season and it progressed more and more from there and before I knew it, I was out on large pyromusical displays as a crew member. A couple of years later, when I was 17, I had finished a full time college course and had to decide what to do next as I needed to stay in education until I was 18. Andy Hubble, one of the directors, was helping me with finding what to do next and was giving me advice on which courses he thought would benefit me most in the future. All of a sudden, an apprenticeship came into the equation and all the guys at Star Fireworks were willing to have me as their first ever apprentice. The apprenticeship was in business administration and it meant I could earn money and learn skills that would benefit me whether I stayed with Star or not. It was a perfect opportunity to kickstart a career, I was all over it! I knew the apprenticeship wage was far from the best but I kept reassuring myself that it was an investment in myself and it was only going to go up from there. Every Monday I went to Bracknell and Wokingham College for the day and did a lot of work learning the skills in order to become a business administrator, and for the rest of the weeks I was working in the Star Fireworks main office and shop. The apprenticeship was hard at times and there were points where I didn’t enjoy it as much as I initially thought I would. However I cracked on and with help and experience from all the team at Star Fireworks and my huge interest in the trade, I managed to complete the course two years later. The feeling of finishing the apprenticeship was unreal and a huge relief to both me and the rest of the team. No more apprenticeship wage! All I can say is - If you are considering doing an apprenticeship, please take this advice and do it with a company that you know believes in you and who share the same interests as you because that was one of the main reasons I got through it. And it will definitely help you too.