Sydney Bridge’s apprentices and work experience

By Abigail Morrell

As well as selling furniture to its community, Sydney Bridge has also begun taking on young people as apprentices to help them develop key skills and gain valuable work experience.

Jamie Bye, a 2nd year Sports Journalism student at Leeds Trinity University, recently spent 6 weeks with the company as part of his undergraduate degree course.

His passion for journalism and social media came from a combined love for sport and an interest in writing.

Although promoting furniture is a world away from interviewing sports stars, Jamie feels that Sydney Bridge has helped him develop many of the skills he’ll need to succeed in his future career.

A typical work day for Sydney Bridge’s apprentices involves keeping social media up to date, occasionally dealing with customers, and also helping other employees around the shop and warehouse.

Jamie, who has helped to create a social media profile for the company, also has weekly meetings with Pritesh Parmar, who is in charge of Sydney Bridge’s marketing and social media strategy.

Jamie said: “My 6 weeks at Sydney Bridge helped me to develop people skills, social media skills, and learn what it’s like to work in this industry.”

He recommends doing a work experience placement with Sydney Bridge to anybody interested in pursuing a career in social media, marketing and PR.

He said: “It’s chilled out, has a friendly working environment, and I’ve learnt a lot.”