Former apprentice becomes employer’s youngest board member

An apprentice alumni from the AMRC Training Centre has become the youngest person in the history of his company to be appointed to its board of directors. 

At just 25-years-old, Matt Keeley was keen to make his mark on the future of Bradwell-based company NEC Ltd, which provides components to the nuclear and defence sectors, and recently became an Employee Ownership Trust. 

Matt, who has worked for the business for four-and-a-half-years, said: “To have become a member of my company’s board of directors feels really good and it’s great to be able to be a driving part of the future of the business. 

“I’m excited to take on this opportunity to develop my career and take on a new challenge.” 

Matt completed his level 3 machining apprenticeship at the University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre in January, and to support him in his new role as a company director, he is now studying for a Master of Business Administration (MBA). 

Matt said the reason he chose an apprenticeship route is because for him it was the best way into practical work alongside being able to gain the qualifications he needed to become an engineer. 

He added: “The AMRC Training Centre has helped to give me the qualifications I needed to further my career within NEC Ltd and it’s something I wish I had done sooner. To anyone looking at doing an apprenticeship, I would say to take as much from it as you can – it’s a great learning opportunity for practical work experience and being able to gain vital qualifications at the same time.” 

David Greenan, sales director at NEC Ltd, said Matt is a ‘self-motivated individual, who is keen to learn and make the business a success’ and that made him an ideal candidate to become a member of the board.

David said: “Matt understands that he has a long-term future with the business and has been adaptable, learning every role to gain a better understanding of the work and make a more valuable contribution by being willing to move to different departments as workflow requires.”