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Alex Burns - the first person in England to complete the new BCS Apprenticeship Standard Level 4 in Network Engineering - and with a Distinction - met Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester at the Smarter Business Tech Live expo.

Alex was presented with his certificate by the Mayor who was speaking about the city’s digital agenda at the expo at Manchester Central yesterday. The two-day event featured presentations delivered by more than 150 specialist speakers. Earlier this year, Andy Burnham announced his vision of making Manchester a world leading digital hub.

Andy Burnham said: “We want Manchester to be a smart city that connects industrial needs with social ones - we want to use technology to connect young people with opportunities. We want to deal with social challenges. I spent 16 years working in Westminster and I saw how national politics won’t provide answers for the modern world. Looking to the future, I believe most of the positive good social change will come through our cities and city regions. I want Manchester to be part of this; I want it to be the most forward thinking progressive city and we need to drive change from the bottom up. We have an opportunity to write our own story.”

About Alex

Alex works for Stack Interconnect, part of the Stack Group, which specialise in the provision of IT services and management.

Mark Darnell, Technical Sales and Support Manager of the Stack Interconnect division commented on Alex’s outstanding achievement: “I have seen Alex’s character, confidence and ability grow vastly over the course of his apprenticeship. The growth in his abilities have meant that he is becoming an ever increasingly important member of my team. Alex is an example to all that hard work really does pay off. It is also great kudos to Alex and Stack Interconnect, that he is the very first Network Engineer Apprentice to complete in the country.”

John Pritchard, Head of Apprenticeships, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, commented: “Alex should be very proud of his achievements and for becoming the first Digital Apprentices to complete with BCS.  Training provider 3aaa should also be commended for their support of Alex and for training him to achieve such a high standard. I wish Alex all the best for the future.”

Alex said: “Stack Interconnect has been a great place for me to learn everything I needed to know, to not only succeed within my apprenticeship, but in building a career for myself. With a fantastic and supportive environment, I have been able to rapidly learn all of the relevant skills and technologies I have needed to succeed and continue to develop. I really enjoyed the programme and learnt a great deal of knowledge from it. The 3aaa Academy was a great platform for me to complete the training and become the best at my job that I could possibly be.”

To find out more about apprenticeships visit: bcs.org/apprenticeships

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