This National Apprenticeship Week (7th-13th February), Softcat PLC has taken an innovative approach to celebrate this year’s theme – “Build the Future” – by inviting one lucky apprentice to experience a day in the life of different senior roles, including Chairman.

Megan Vickers, Vendor Alliances Apprentice at Softcat will experience first-hand what life looks like as the Chairman, CEO, CFO and HR Director of a leading provider of IT infrastructure to corporate and public sectors, with over 1680 employees across 9 vibrant offices in the UK and Ireland.

The initiative will help the Softcat Leadership team better understand younger perspectives within the company and encourage diversity of thought at all levels of the business. The insights will be applied to further improve Softcat’s industry-leading Apprenticeship scheme and to attract and prepare younger talent on their career journey to executive and senior positions.

Graeme Watt, CEO of Softcat, said: “Our aim at Softcat is to put employees first and this includes helping those at the start of their careers to have a voice in what they need to become successful.  We were delighted that over a quarter of our apprentices applied to take part in this initiative which is all about understanding how we need to enable leadership mindset of the future.”

Megan Vickers, Vendor Alliances Apprentice at Softcat added: “After deciding I wanted to explore the route of doing an apprenticeship after leaving school, I came across the opportunities that Softcat has to offer. In the 12 months at Softcat, I have met some amazing people, developed skills I did not realise I had and now I cannot wait to learn about what it takes to get to a C Level position which is definitely something I aspire to.’

Softcat is renowned for its vibrant, people-first culture. In 2021, it achieved 5th position in the Super-Large Category of the UK’s Best Workplaces Awards and is ranked the top apprenticeship employer in the UK by RateMyApprenticeship for the last two consecutive years.

Since establishing its apprenticeship scheme in 2014, Softcat has welcomed over 204 apprentices and looks forward to supporting many more young people’s careers in the coming years.