Meet One of Our Apprentices – Jodie!
Providing opportunities for young people in our communities is one of our key priorities, and RPS Group has already created over 180 apprenticeships!
Jodie Barr, one of our current apprentices, spoke to us about her journey with Rothwell Plumbing Services Group so far…
“Before Starting at RPS I studied at St John Rigby College completing A-Levels in Criminology, History, Mathematics, and Psychology. I also worked part-time in a small bar and coached a cheerleading team. In my free time, I enjoy going to festivals and to the pub with my friends to play pool and darts. I also love going on holiday and seeing new places.
I joined RPS as an Apprentice Business Administrator and am currently working on the Wigan Council Heating Contract. I am based in the North West office with the rest of my team. My role enables me to liaise with our engineering teams, tenants and council staff daily.
On a typical day, I use software to set jobs for each day and check and track the job status of our engineers’ work. This moves from “on route” to “on-site” and finally to “complete”. I also ensure my spreadsheets are up to date to keep track of the work going ahead and make paperwork packs for the engineers to use for each day.
My role also involves helping to solve any problems that our tenants may have. This ranges from explaining what a boiler install involves to assigning people to visit the tenants to help resolve any issues.
The best thing about my role is the team I get to work with – and the chocolate biscuits in the office! Joining a workplace at 18 was quite daunting, but now I enjoy coming to work because I know my colleagues always support me, and we have a laugh too! I like that every day is different, and that we can overcome any challenges that we are faced with! After a day’s work, I look forward to going home, making a nice tea with my boyfriend, and watching TV on the couch with our dog.
In the future, I hope to continue working on social housing projects and gradually become more involved with the tenants we work with. I enjoy talking to tenants whether that’s over the phone or on home visits. I recently worked on a project to deliver winter packages to our elderly tenants over Christmas. Being able to support and help people in my role makes me excited to continue my career.”
