‘It’s such enjoyable work that it doesn’t really feel like a job‘
Ollie didn’t have much of an idea about what career path to take prior to Kickstart. He had started a degree course at UWE which fell apart during lockdown 2020 leaving Ollie struggling without direction, financially and with no accommodation – this led to a challenging year with little option for temporary employment after being put on furlough and then being made redundant. Kickstart was a game changer; Ollie made a great initial impression with Delacontrol who swiftly increased Ollie’s hours from 25 to 40 allowing him to save the deposit to secure a place to live with Delacontrol providing a reference for the accommodation.
Sammy Ait-Tales (Operations Director) says ‘We’re all really proud of Ollie. He’s definitely going to stay on and I’m working together with Bristol City Council Kickstart and Ellie Socha from West of England Apprenticeships Service to iron out whether we can transition Ollie onto an apprenticeship scheme. He’s keen to learn all aspects of the business, we undertake hardware and software design and our plans are to get him involved in everything and then the world is his oyster. Ollie will grow with the company. The team at Delacontrol all get on really well. We have a friendly workplace culture which Ollie has really benefitted from.’
Sammy Ait-Tales (Operations Director) further explained that in January when anxiety was very high about covid key members of staff were not able to come to work so we hired Ollie’s boss David who needed support so we turned to Kickstart for an extra pair of hands. Ollie performed really well at interview and was extremely polite and switched on from the outset. Now I can’t picture the company without Ollie, he’s learning quickly from David and now Ollie can run the workshop without supervision. Almost within the first week of the scheme we increased Ollie’s hours to 40 a week.
We’re so proud of Ollie, because he’s so good Delacontrol are more than prepared to pay for any further training, higher education options potentially. If he wants it, he’s got it.‘
Ollie says ‘It’s a great working environment, I really enjoy coming into work – it’s such enjoyable work that it doesn’t really feel like a job. It was quite a surprise to not having a clue about my career path to joining the Kickstart scheme and then almost immediately having a clear direction. The team at Delacontrol are very supportive, it’s been a great environment for my learning style and I’m looking forward to working for the company for years to come.’
