Jack's story

Interested in finding out what it is like to learn via an apprenticeship? Some of our previous and current apprentices share their experiences on working for James Walker whilst undertaking qualifications.

Name: Jack Buxton
Role: Marketing Research Manager

I have worked in sales and marketing at James Walker for the last 11 years after graduating as an undergraduate materials engineer. After completing a CIM Level 7 Marketing Leadership Programme, I was able to reach Chartered status in Marketing and decided to look for new development opportunities in my career.

The Senior Leader apprenticeship has been a fantastic way to broaden may skills and knowledge outside of sales and marketing, across all key strategic business functions. Studying alongside my role has also enabled me to apply learnings and leverage the MBA course assignments and reach senior colleagues across James Walker. As an example, I greatly enjoyed presenting strategic project ideas to our CEO as well as key stakeholders across the board, finance and marketing functions in preparation for the apprenticeship project gateway. I also shared findings from my leadership assignment with our head of HR, which was an opportunity to challenge the ideas put forwards and discuss the proposed recommendations in a supportive and constructive way.

The support I have received from colleagues to challenge and shape the application of my apprenticeship has so far been outstanding and I am very appreciative of the opportunity that James Walker has given to me. I would recommend anyone considering senior leadership to consider taking this path. In addition to the academic learning, you meet developing leaders from other organisations and parts of the world, which greatly broadens your appreciation for business networks and the strength of learning from others.

My typical apprenticeship schedule involves one in every five weeks at university, where the entire class meets face-to-face for that week's module. Once all modules are complete, I will be moving onto the final apprenticeship and dissertation projects followed by an international trip to develop even more global business capabilities.

Alongside my study, I have a keen interest in sustainability and the interaction this has with business. One of the highlights of the apprenticeship so far was organising a sustainability guest lecture event, where we invited sustainability champions to share experiences with the MBA class and celebrated with tree planting on campus. This initiative was incredibly well received by our guest speakers and signified the lasting impact that such an event has on the environment. It was a business school first and will hopefully continue well into the future.