Securing our futures: New apprentices join the Cranstons family
Michal, Adam and Nathan; and newly qualified butchers Connor + Spencer
As we rung in 2021, we have welcomed three apprentices to the Cranstons family!
Brandon Flannigan, Adam Jackson and Michal Roszkoiak joined us a couple of months ago and they will be based at our Hexham shop and Orton Grange food hall.
Both Adam and Michal will be switching kitchens for the chopping block after making the move from the hospitality industry. They found the unsociable hours to be tough to manage around day-to-day life, and figured that switching sectors would allow them to still work in food, but work more conventional hours, waving goodbye to split shifts and late nights.
Brandon joins the team fresh from school, which we have seen in the past with Connor Carrick, Spencer Allison and Nathan Cushion all joining us in their late-teens as butchery apprentices. Connor and Spencer completed their apprenticeships mid-2020, and Nathan is set to sit his final assessment in the coming months.
Working alongside industry trainer, MEAT Ipswich, our apprentices will be assessed on theory and practical knowledge over the course of the next 18 months as they train to become qualified butchers. They will benefit from being integrated with already qualified master butchers and recent graduates of the apprenticeship scheme. Working closely with the butchery teams allows them to be trained to a higher skilled level with some of their colleagues holding decades of experience as craft butchers.
As part of personal development they regularly move around the shops gaining experience working in larger teams, and leading smaller teams. Connor currently works in the Penrith King Street shop overseeing the shop when the manager is on their days off, and Spencer provides cover when needed at other sites. It provides valuable experience at an early stage of their careers in butchery and retail.
Martin Jones, Deputy Managing Director at Cranstons said: “We are delighted to welcome new apprentices Michal, Brandon and Adam to Cranstons. We are pleased that they have chosen our apprentice scheme to create a future for themselves in the butchery trade. We have had great success with apprentices in the past, who have been able to develop their skills and move up the ranks in our retail premises.
“We find apprenticeships are the best way to be able to train from the ground up as the apprentices will be working alongside fellow craft butchers who have lots of experience in the field. They are the foundations of our butchery teams in the future.”
Adam Jackson said: “After working for the first part of my career as a chef in the busy hospitality industry I felt like the long shifts and unsociable hours didn’t fit with my life – I was never at home with my new family.
“When the position of apprentice butcher at Cranstons came up it was a real no brainer for me to apply for it as I would be still working in an industry I love, but in a different sector.
“I’m looking forward to working with the team of retail master butchers. They are giving me every opportunity to progress my skills on a daily basis, whether it’s breaking down lamb carcases or producing the top quality simply cook range of products available in the butchery department.”
“The apprenticeship is over 18 months, so after this I hope to become a qualified member of the butchery team, and will continue to train towards becoming a Cranstons master butcher”