Celia McNally, Environment Agency: From Learner to Leader

Intec’s Higher Apprentice of the Year is awarded to a candidate studying a Level 4 programme or above. We are delighted to announce that our Higher Apprentice of the Year for 2023 is Celia McNally of the Environment Agency.

Described by her tutor, John Felton, as a ‘force of nature’, Celia was part of our first cohort to complete the Improvement Practitioner Level 4 programme. Her hard work, determination, and ongoing support for others really stood out, making her a deserving winner of this year’s award.

Apprenticeships are all about building the confidence and skills of an individual to deliver real business benefits. The improvement programme develops the learner’s knowledge around Lean, Kaizen, and Six Sigma principles, providing practitioners with frameworks to deliver efficiencies for their organisation. Celia is a fantastic example of someone who has done this; she has taken what she learnt on the programme and presented a business case for an improvement plan to her superiors. As a result, she has successfully secured support for these improvements to be put into action.

“Before starting the apprenticeship, I had always been interested in improving the way we worked so that we were more effective, wasted less time and effort, and reduced the impact of change on our staff. I could see what needed to be improved but struggled to develop a case to take it forward. Applying the learning I gained on the programme to this project enabled me to approach it in a structured, evidence-based way, and the project will deliver cost, time, and wellbeing improvements.” - Celia McNally.

Celia’s commitment to her own professional development is clear. She works not only to better herself but also to create a positive environment for her colleagues. Her manager, Chris Wilson, has witnessed this firsthand: “Celia sought out and applied for this apprenticeship herself as part of her dedication to continuous improvement. Her systematic approach to untangling complex interdependent processes across a major investment programme is refreshing. She integrated her studies alongside her ongoing workload, ensuring minimum disruption to capacity, and it has had immediate and progressive benefits. Others in our organisation have shown an interest in taking up learning via an apprenticeship because of Celia’s experience.”

Celia’s achievements have not been without challenges. The prospect of returning to education can be intimidating: “I wouldn’t normally reference this, but I am dyslexic. This is something I have acknowledged and embraced in the past few years, but it did make me anxious about embarking on the apprenticeship. However, I hadn’t realised how different an apprenticeship approach would be. The staged approach to theory, followed by practical, real-life application in the work environment, helped embed the understanding so much more naturally.”

Intec’s John Felton nominated Celia for this award, stating: “She goes well above and beyond expectations in her own desire to learn and help others; she is a credit to her organisation. Her experience of dyslexia led her to develop a glossary and aide-mémoire to support her as she completed her End Point Assessment (EPA), and these have since been integrated into Intec’s syllabus to support others going forward. She has managed to juggle a full-time job, achieve a well-deserved Distinction at EPA, and serve as a mentor to others. Celia is a co-lead of her Staff Dyslexia Plus Network, and whilst on programmes, she’s used improvement techniques to help grow this network from 200 to over 750 members.”

Congratulations Celia! We couldn’t have found a more worthy winner!