12/02/2025
Apprenticeship Week Spotlight: Stuart’s Journey at Makefast Group
This Apprenticeship Week, we are highlighting Stuart’s journey from HND apprentice to Technical Director.
“I took an apprenticeship with the Shared Apprentice Scheme. This involved gaining real work experience and earning a wage at the same time, working across various workshops and design offices in the area, including Makefast, whilst also continuing my education.
The apprenticeship gave me a real-life engineering background, working with experienced technicians, and also provided me with the social skills needed for day-to-day workplace interactions.
Makefast's apprenticeship offered me a great opportunity to develop all aspects of my engineering knowledge. Being a compact company, I was working on real projects immediately, both on the shop floor and in the design office. During my apprenticeship at Makefast, I worked on product design, machine design, and tool design.
Makefast offers in-house and external training to support career progression. Makefast also gave me the opportunity to travel with the yacht products, visiting most of Europe and the USA during my time in the design office. Additionally, Makefast gave me the opportunity to work alongside experienced salesmen, providing me with guidance on speaking and dealing directly with customers.
From Junior Designer/Apprentice, I worked my way up to one of the lead designers in the office on the luxury yacht side of the business. Over time, I became involved in more specialist products required for the very high end of the market. Makefast gave my colleague and me the space to develop a separate department and, ultimately, a separate company, where I am now a Technical Director.”
Curious about apprenticeships at Makefast Group? Visit www.makefast.com/career to learn more.