Made in the South East Awards Winner

Anni accepts award from judge Mr Paul Hetherington, strategic advisor BRE Group

Supply Chain Warehouse Operative Anni Sanders wins 'Apprentice of the Year' in the Insider Media Made in the South East Awards!

Anni attended the tenth edition of Insider’s annual awards on 30th November 2023 with her parents and our Assembly Manager, Mrs Val Chandler, and was delighted with the news when it was announced she’d won ‘Apprentice of the Year’ at the ceremony held at the Hilton London Gatwick.

Anni who successfully completed her apprenticeship in early 2022 was thrilled to receive her certificate last March and then to go on and win the ‘Apprentice of the Year’ award in 2023 was the icing on the cake! Trained in goods inward/despatch, stores and assembly, Anni’s role involves taking deliveries, checking for damaged/missing items, storing goods, moving stock by various methods, picking/packing orders, getting goods ready for dispatch, maintaining stock records, health and safety, manual handling and using all forms of documentation throughout these areas.

Mr Paul Hetherington, strategic advisor BRE Group commented: “Being a judge at these was really difficult, great to see the worthy winners so happy. Especially the one I presented for Apprentice of the Year to Anni Sanders of Focus SB.”

Anni Sanders with her parents at Insider Made in the South East Awards

Mrs Val Chandler, assembly manager Focus SB said: “It was a great night! We at Focus SB are trying to bring on the next generation to keep doing what Focus is good at. Anni is an absolute pleasure to mentor and has taken everything that has been shown on board and learns something new every day. It's bringing the confidence out and working within a team which is not an easy thing to do when you are always doubting yourself. I say let there be more Annis!”

Anni’s proud parents Mr and Mrs Sanders attended the awards with our Assembly Manager Mrs Val Chandler last evening, with Mrs Saunders thanking us for our support for Anni on her career journey: “ Thanks you Focus SB for being such a great employer and helping Anni reach her potential, and special thanks to Val Chandler.”

Compere for the evening was Mr Philip Cunliffe

The compere for the evening was Mr Philip Cunliffe, Insider Media regional business editor, with the event sponsored by Cardinal Global Logistics, Crowe UK and HSBC UK, with the networking booklets sponsored by EMC.

About her apprenticeship Anni said: “I was interested in starting an apprenticeship at Focus SB because it was the path I wanted to go down and something different than going to college, every day here is never the same and I like that.” Read more about Anni and other Focus SB apprentices in our blog post ‘Spotlight on apprenticeships’.

STOP PRESS: We congratulate Supply Chain Warehouse Operative Anni Sanders on her second success in the Insider awards ‘Apprentice of the Year’ category, achieving ‘Highly Commended' in the Made in the UK Awards. Visit news to read about Anni’s achievement in June 2024.

We welcome applicants via our successful apprenticeship and graduate training programmes. If you are seeking a new career opportunity please contact Mrs Jo Cloute telling us a bit about yourself along with a CV (if available).