Rosie Davies

Penny Hydraulics - a Close Brothers funded apprentice

Rosie has been part of the apprenticeship programme since 2018, training with Penny Hydraulics.

After finishing school, it was a natural decision for Rosie to turn her hand to engineering as her grandad, father and uncle all worked in similar fields and it had always been a sector she wanted to work in. However, she did face some barriers before reaching her apprenticeship. 

During her time in college, Rosie was the only girl in the engineering and mathematics course and says even teachers tried to persuade her against pursuing engineering. 

“I was the only girl that turned up in steel-capped boots and the teachers warned my parents against me joining the engineering class.” 

However, Rosie proved them wrong, finishing the class with the top marks and decided to move on to be an apprentice after a teacher pointed her towards the University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre and the Close Brothers’ apprenticeship programme. 

Now in her third year of training, Rosie wants to encourage more young women to consider a career in engineering, hoping to show others the opportunities which are available that they may not be aware of. 

Rosie acknowledges that undertaking an apprenticeship during the pandemic has been more of a challenge, but praised the AMRC Training Centre for being able to deliver remote training that is effective and for having support available to students when they need it. For anyone considering an apprenticeship in the future, Rosie would recommend it. 

“The mix of the practical and theory is unbeatable and you can finish the course with the same qualifications as if you’d been to university, but you’ve been earning while you’ve been training.”