Excellence Celebrated at the NTU Apprenticeship Awards
The annual NTU Apprenticeship Awards took place on 8 May 2025, with over 135 guests attending the ceremony to celebrate the outstanding achievements of NTU apprentices, employers and mentors.
Published on 16 May 2025
Categories: Press office;
Last week, NTU hosted our annual Apprenticeship Awards which seeks to highlight and celebrate the excellent work and achievements of apprentices studying at NTU.
As well as apprentices, the awards shine a light on both employers and mentors, without whom an apprenticeship wouldn't be possible.
This year's awards saw the highest amount of nominations since the awards started in 2019, with the quality of submissions being at an all-time high also.
Over the duration of the awards ceremony, seven apprentice awards are given out, including the prestigious NTU Apprentice of the Year award, as well as six employer awards.
David Drury, Degree Apprenticeship Manager, Employer Engagement commented. "this year's NTU Apprenticeship Awards has been the most competitive awards with the highest number of nominations we've ever received. All the finalists should be incredibly proud of themselves and all they've achieved."
The awards opened to submissions in October 2024 and are anonymously reviewed and scored by an external judging panel who shortlisted the finalists.
The finalists were then announced in February 2025 during National Apprenticeship Week, the judges then score the finalists' nominations again to determine the winners, who were announced at last week's ceremony.
Apprentice Award Winners
First Year Apprentice of the Year
Winner: Jacob Henry, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Outstanding Apprentice of the Year - Construction & Engineering
Winner: George Hodgson, Derry Building Services
Outstanding Apprentice of the Year - Financial, Legal & Business Services
Winner: Joshua Georgiou, E.ON
Outstanding Apprentice of the Year - Food, Manufacturing & Service Industries
Winner: Jenny Rose, Boots
Outstanding Apprentice of the Year - Health, Education & Care
Winner: Natalie Selby-Shaw, NTU
Outstanding Apprentice of the Year - Public Services
Winner: Konstantinos Karagounis, NTU
Employer Award Winners
Apprentice Mentor of the Year
Winner: Anup Pancholi, Experian
Equality & Diversity Award
Winner: Experian
Apprentice Employer of the Year (Small enterprise, 1-49 employees)
Winner: Hope Architects
Apprentice Employer of the Year (Medium enterprise, 50-249 employees)
Winner: Landermeads
Apprentice Employer of the Year (Large enterprise, 250 employees)
Winner: E.ON
NTU Apprentice of the Year 2025
Jane McNeil, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education [left] and NTU Apprentice of the Year 2025, Jenny Rose
The winners of the Outstanding Apprentice of the Year categories are automatically entered into the NTU Apprentice of the Year category.
The judges unanimously considered Jenny Rose, a Level 7 Senior Leader Apprentice working at Boots, to be NTU's Apprentice of the Year 2025.
In their deliberation, the judges found Jenny to be "an exceptional apprentice, achieving one of the highest academic profiles ever seen on their programme while making a significant impact at their employer. A supportive peer, inspirational role model, and influential leader, Jenny exemplifies the transformative power of apprenticeships at the highest level."
The Judging Panel
We would like to thank our judging panel who work hard to read, review and score every single application made.
- Anne Wright, Managing Director, Workpays
- Louise Cairns, CEO, The National Skills Academy for Food & Drink
- Lucy Grierson, Partnerships, Projects and Communications Manager, NHS Charities Together
- Nick Ebbs, Chair of the Nottingham Growth Board
- Penny Guard, Learning & Development Manager, Nottingham Alliance Training Hub
- Simeon Powell, Executive Coach, Babington