Two Hunterston B apprentices have been singled out for special honours at EDF Energy’s annual apprenticeship graduation ceremony in Worcestershire.

Rachel Pellegrini from Ardrossan and Conor Logie from Irvine received special awards from Simone Rossi, EDF Energy’s new CEO, at the annual apprentice graduation ceremony.

They were joined by 57 other apprentices from across the business including fellow Hunterston B apprentices Ruairigh Grayston, Megan MacMaster, Ross Stevenson, Jordan Walker.

All six of the power station’s apprentices spent four years on the company’s highly-regarded Engineering Maintenance Apprenticeship Scheme.

Conor was named the Hunterston B apprentice of the year for his performance over the past 12 months. Rachel received the company ‘Going the Extra Mile’ award. This award recognises an apprentice who has gone over and above what would normally be expected in their role. Rachel’s professionalism and positive attitude along with her STEM work in schools and her active support of the company charity helped her secure the award.

Conor said: “I have really enjoyed the apprenticeship programme over the past four years so I feel honoured that my hard work has been recognised. I can’t recommend the scheme highly enough. I have developed so many new skills since I started and I am looking forward to keeping up the hard work in my role as a full-time technician.”

Rachel said of her award: “I am grateful to receive this award and I look forward to progressing my career within the company.”

The awards were presented by newly-appointed EDF Energy Chief Executive Simone Rossi in front of an audience of graduating apprentices and their families.

There has been a marked increase in young women taking up the apprenticeship in engineering and maintenance across the country.

CEO Simone Rossi said: “This year around 35 per cent of our intake is female – far above the average for STEM apprenticeships.”

“This is something that is very important to us, not just because we are firm believers in the power of having a diverse and inclusive workforce, but also because we know that there are many, many highly capable young women who for whatever reason are being deterred from considering a career in engineering and science.”

“We are trying to play our part in helping to make these careers more attractive and I am very pleased that we have just relaunched our ‘Pretty Curious’ campaign in an exciting partnership with the new ‘Star Wars’ film that features a female engineer as its lead character.

“This partnership will help us to reach out still further to talented people – boys and girls - who maybe had not previously seen themselves working in an industry like ours.”

In November, Hunterston B launched its search for their 2018 apprentices. The training scheme starts with two years at the world-renowned training base at HMS Sultan near Portsmouth. The apprentices spend the final two years at their home bases where they get on-the-job training.

The scheme is open to anyone aged 16 and above, the minimum entry is five National 5s or equivalent, including Maths, English and two of either Science, Technical or Engineering subjects.