Bailey's pocket money job led him to be a heating engineer

Glasgow-based energy services company Union Technical is celebrating the successes of Bailey McMillan, now 20, who was recruited five years ago as an unskilled 15-year-old.

With no clear career ambitions, Bailey started working with his uncle, Stuart Winton, on Friday afternoons when he was just 15.

After working with Union Technical as sub-contractors, Stuart was appointed as a heating engineer and Bailey as a heating apprentice.

Bailey has since worked at Union Technical in conjunction with undertaking a college course in plumbing and heating at Glasgow Clyde College.

Bailey has worked on projects across Scotland, developing skills in engineering areas such as oil, gas and renewables.

His apprenticeship successes caught the eye of his college lecturer, who nominated him as just one of six candidates put forward for the debut renewable category in the Scottish Plumbing Apprenticeship of the Year competition, organised by the Scotland and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers' Federation (SNIPEF).

After completing his college course this summer, Bailey is now pursuing the strong earning potential on offer in the renewable energy industry.

Bailey said: “I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school. I hated school to be honest - I just wanted to leave.

"My confidence has grown loads - when I was 16, I was shy and timid, and started from scratch, not having any skills. And now, over the four years I’ve been doing it, I’m much more confident as a person.

“People who’ve never heard of or known an apprentice won’t have any idea of how much money can be made through apprenticeships or about the industries you can break in to.

"I was never told about them at school or anything, and only discovered this route by chance working with my uncle.”

David Lee, heating manager at Union Technical, said: “Bailey has opened a lot of opportunities for himself by sticking with this.

"He’s very self-driven and has really done well. The experience and the skills he has gained mean that he can go and write his own cheques for the next 30 to 40 years.  

“Having youngsters who have dealt with renewables from the beginning of their career is what is needed going forward, and Bailey is one of the first couple of batches who have started off their career in renewable skills.

“It’s not a case of 'get an unskilled job or go to university' - there is a scenario where you can be out earning money with an apprenticeship whilst you’re learning, and when you qualify, the world is your oyster.”

Bailey added: “I love what I do, genuinely I adore it. It’s varied, interesting and satisfying work.

"I’d 100 per cent recommend others to do an apprenticeship like mine. If you get a chance to do it, grab it with both hands.

"You get paid as you learn, it’s a great laugh, and obviously you learn great skills by the end of it.”

To enquire with Union Technical about apprenticeship roles, please get in touch with info@uniontechnical.co.uk.