12 March 2020

Harrison joined the Viamaster International team in April 2019, as our Apprentice Freight Planner.

The Business Administrator Level 3 qualification course is run by CMS Vocational Training in Batley. This is a 15-month course, with Harrison graduating in November 2020.

We asked Harrison to share a little with us about his role, day to day tasks and future aspirations…

“I always enjoyed business studies throughout school and college and this courses content allows me to build on topics I have already touched on before whilst also exploring some new topics and areas within business, which keeps me interested and engaged with every topic I cover.

Currently I am working in the Export department. My role entails many different tasks which adds some variety to each day. One of main roles is to prepare all the necessary paperwork for trailers which depart every Tuesday and Friday. This is an integral part of the business and makes sure that all trailers we send out whether that be our own or sub-contracted, successfully delivers all the goods onboard.

Other roles involve creating jobs for each shipment on our system allowing the department to organise trailers and invoice costs out without any problems, liaising with shippers by telephone or email to arrange collection from them, and actioning POD (Proof of Delivery) requests from our clients.

I enjoy my current role as it really pushes me each day to make sure I am performing to the best of my ability. I have learnt you have to be very meticulous in my role as there are many little details that require your attention. Some tasks also push me out of my comfort zone, however, I believe this to have benefitted me as I feel much more confident when talking to customers on the phone, whether that be a domestic customer or an overseas agent.

After completing my level 3 Business Admin apprenticeship, I would like to explore more apprenticeship opportunities so I can expand my knowledge whilst I still have the chance, hopefully within the same role if Viamaster supports that, or potentially somewhere else, in a different role within the industry. I would look at doing a level 4 or 5 business administrator apprenticeship, which also incorporates project management into the course which I would use when applying for future roles”

Feedback from Harrison’s tutor Andrew is also very positive:

“Harrison always puts 100% effort into his apprenticeship. Harrison produces work on time and to an excellent standard showing his desire to learn and progress throughout all the topics covered within his apprenticeship. Harrison communicates effectively if he has any queries which makes a huge difference to the progress of the apprenticeship and ensures he is supported and can progress in between my visits as well as during.  Harrison has continued to progress with his confidence and every month he provides more knowledge of his role and the industry, showing he’s learning more and doing more, resulting in him having more responsibilities and helping him to prepare for his next steps.”

“We are really pleased to have Harrison on board the Viamaster team. He is a credit to the team with hard working ethos and has learnt so much about his role and our industry in the small space of time he has been with us. It’s great to bring new younger blood into the company through CMS and apprenticeships and we hope that Harrison can progress his career long term with Viamaster”.

James Lees, General Manager