CAREERS

“I joined Alco in 2013 on an apprenticeship which I’ve now completed. I’m now being supported to study my HNC in Mechanical Engineering, which I’m really looking forward to starting to develop my career even further.

I worked in several different departments as part of my apprenticeship and I now work on the larger valves such as subsea and large trunnion mounts. I find the work really interesting and I just want to keep working hard and progress further up the chain with Alco, and my HNC will help me do this. A lot of my friends from college also went through engineering apprenticeships and it feels like Alco compares very well with some of the other apprentice schemes my friends have been through.”

Jordan Clavin

ASSEMBLER & FITTER

“I joined Alco in 2013 partway through my apprenticeship and the company supported me in advancing on to my HNC, which I have now achieved. I really enjoy working at Alco because I like to be involved in key processes and I have had a lot of opportunities to do this.

I have had a really hands-on role with work such as fire testing and type approval testing, and I even flew to Oman to help a vendor set up their own testing procedures. I want to keep doing more of this kind of work and maybe get more involved with finished products that we develop within the R&D team. I feel like Alco really listen to their staff and give us all plenty of opportunities to progress.”

Mark Smith

R&D ENGINEER

“I really enjoy working so closely with customers - many of them in other parts of the world - and building relationships with them. I recently secured a very large contract for over 20 valves going to Egypt which was really rewarding and I got some great help from my colleagues to secure the deal.

I really enjoy working at Alco and having worked at the old premises and moved to the new one, it’s great to see that Graco are investing in us. I also feel that I personally am getting great support from the business to build my career and see a good future for myself here. ”

Sam Walland

APPRENTICE SALES SUPPORT ENGINEER

“My first experience of Alco was two weeks’ work experience while I was at 6th form college. That then turned into a part-time job, and when I completed college I started an apprenticeship and will start my HNC studies shortly.

What I enjoy most about working at Alco is the real responsibility you get. For example I am very involved in testing at all stages of the manufacturing process, and I have worked alongside third party inspectors to demonstrate my methods as part of our quality management accreditations. It just goes to show that if you work hard and use the knowledge you’ve picked up from your studies, you will get opportunities to progress quickly.”

Josh Milthorpe

QUALITY CONTROL INSPECTOR

“I joined Alco in 2015 as an apprentice and have worked across the full range of valve products as an assembler. I am studying for an NVQ in Engineering Maintenance and I am impressed with how well my studies fit with the work I am doing.

I see good long-term potential at Alco and the things I enjoy most are the variety of the work, the fact that it’s challenging and teaches you new things regularly and the way the whole team work together and support one another.”

Sam Lane

APPRENTICE ASSEMBLER