Apprentices working hard!
Our apprentices have been working hard over the past couple of months. With a busy Jubilee weekend and our new micro-brewery being progressed, our apprentices have had plenty to keep them busy.
Ben has successfully completed another exam in Bookkeeping Controls and is learning a lot from our Finance Assistant Clare. A big, ongoing project that Clare is helping him with is to develop paperless organization. This can be tricky at first when you have lots of paperwork and files, and need to transfer them all to digital, however, they have shown great teamwork and are achieving this at a fast pace. Working with a new system is never easy, but Ben is picking up skills quickly and efficiently, so that we can save paper by not printing as much as we used to. The Hogs Back Brewery is all about being environmentally friendly, so this project plays a key role in reducing our carbon footprint.
Euan has been kept busy with Builder Ben as they make progress on our Sunken Garden and preparing our new micro-brewery. Although Ben had to call out the big guns and bring in some heavy machinery to remove the vast amounts of silt in our reservoir, Euan was on hand to help. He worked seamlessly with the digger to remove and relocate the silt, so that in due time, we can create a unique private events space behind our beautiful beer garden. As much as he loved working in the glorious sunshine, Euan was glad to have a break by doing some work on preparing for our new micro-brewery. The first big task has been to do the floor and drainage which, although it’s taken its time, is looking great and we cannot wait to see the next step!
I, (Alex), got a fantastic opportunity last month to take a trip up to Berkshire Labels and learn about the label printing process, see our new Tongham TEA labels being printed, and discuss different materials that labels can be made out of in order to make them as environmentally friendly as possible. This was an interesting opportunity that I wouldn’t have had the chance to do if I was not a part of the TEA Academy, I found it greatly insightful and informative to learn about the whole process, from screen to bottle. Make sure to keep an eye out for our new Tongham TEA bottles on shelves in the supermarkets!
I have recently had the chance to interact with our TEA Club members through our exclusive Tongham TEA Club Tastings, most recently our Hogfather tasting. I have loved talking to both new and old members, explaining our upcoming events, and learning about what they would like to see from the brewery. This helps me feedback to the senior management team and come up with ideas on how best we can improve the brewery and benefit the TEA Clubbers.
Another exciting opportunity I have been given is to plan my own event, with the support of Mark F and Jill. I have been asked to plan the Hogs Back Brewery’s very first Hoptoberfest, our take on a traditional Oktoberfest, after all, it’s a big celebration with beer and where better to host one than at a brewery? I hope to update you on this in the future as I progress with my planning and look forward to providing everyone with another event they can look forward to!
I officially start my apprenticeship on 30th June, and I’m fully prepared for the journey to come. I can’t wait to interact with the other people on my course and develop my marketing skills along the way. Jill has made sure that I have everything I need in order to start my Marketing Assistant Apprenticeship and has ensured that she will help me with anything I find challenging as well as targeting my work goals to what I am currently working on in my apprenticeship. This is a fantastic new chapter for me, and I cannot wait to provide another apprenticeship update in the near future.
If you are interested in joining our fantastic apprenticeship scheme, simply submit your interest on our TEA Academy page, and we will contact you when new opportunities arise.