Katie Barham, 21, HR Administrator at Langdale, lives in Barrow-in-Furness

Former apprentice Katie is pursuing a promising career in HR with support from Langdale.

After completing a Business Administration apprenticeship, Katie choose to develop her career with a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) course at Kendal College and a HR role at Langdale.

“After gaining my Level 2 qualification at Wax Lyrical in Ulverston, I started to do my CIPD (Level 3) one afternoon a week with Kendal College,” she said. “I applied for a HR role at Langdale, which was part time to start with and ideal for me.

“After a while, I realised that I wanted to spend more time at Langdale and fortunately a full-time role became available to me. I spend the majority of my time in HR but I work in reservations as well. My role enables me to see a bit more of the business, which is good.”

Ambitious Katie hopes to become a HR manager in the future, and is confident that the knowledge and skills gained at Langdale will help her to fulfil her goals.

“I hope to stay in HR and progress myself,” she said. “At Langdale, I’ve learnt so much, which is great for my career. The company is very willing to help their employees if they see a course they want to do at a local college. If it’s beneficial to the business and the employee, Langdale are more than happy to put them through that course.

“It’s a great place to work and I genuinely feel as though Langdale looks after their employees. Everyone is so happy here.”

Katie chose to stay in Cumbria after leaving school and feel lucky to live in an area with lots of opportunities for young people.

“There are lots of opportunities here in Cumbria and an apprenticeship was the right route for me to start my career,” she said.

“In Barrow, there are lots of opportunities at the likes of BAE Systems, Kimberly-Clark and UHMBT at Furness General Hospital. I know a lot of people who left school and went straight into apprenticeships with those companies.

“With those kind of opportunities, you can be sorted in a career for life and I think we’re lucky to have that around us.

“I love Cumbria and I love working in The Lake District as the scenery is amazing.”

Read more at: www.choosecumbria.co.uk/personal-stories/katie-loves-her-learning-experience-at-langdale