Meet Will Maul - Heineken Apprentice Superstar!!

Meet Will Maul -  Heineken Apprentice Superstar!!

Age: 20

From: Hereford

Title of apprenticeship: Apprentice maintenance engineer

Will Maul, 20, has been employed full-time as an Engineering Technician at international brewing company, Heineken, since completing his Maintenance Engineer apprenticeship with them six months ago. He began a four-year apprenticeship there in 2011 after finishing secondary school and deciding he wanted to explore the options that were available to him. After speaking with a National Skills Academy for Food & Drink training provider, Will’s portfolio was made available to companies offering apprenticeships, and he was approached by Heineken.

In the final year of his apprenticeship, Will won Apprentice of the Year for fourth year apprentices in Herefordshire, beating more than 30 of his peers to the accolade. The title is awarded based on academic and practical performance, something Will excelled at after being approached to build a piece of training apparatus to help new apprentices hit the ground running.

He explains, “The training provider asked if me and another apprentice could come up with a programmable logic controller (PLC) training rig so that new apprentices could have a go at using it before coming on-site, meaning they could use some of the machinery here as soon as they started their apprenticeships.

“A PLC is a very complicated digital computer used for the automation of machinery controls. We successfully built the rig and then trained other staff members how to use it and these days it gets used all the time. Projects like that – where problem solving is involved – were my favourite things about the apprenticeship because I found them so rewarding.

“Designing and building the rig and winning Apprentice of the Year rank as the two achievements I’m most proud of since joining Heineken. Considering I’d never even had a Saturday job before I started here, I think I’ve done well so far.”