Entier's Shane Pirie picked up the Rising Star award at this year's Northern Star Business Awards, and were presented the title by sponsors University of Aberdeen.
Shane Pirie didn’t know what he wanted to do when he left school until a team from Entier visited as part of its Fresh Olives Apprentice recruitment programme.
Shane knew that he preferred hands on working more than work with an academic focus, so entered the selection process and joined Entier’s Modern Apprenticeship scheme in 2013 as a trainee chef.
He quickly achieved SVQ level 2 then 3 in Practical Cookery, demonstrating he was a competent and eager chef. He was given experience across Entier’s onshore facilities preparing food from in-house client restaurants, for events of more than 200 people to small fine dining experiences. His positivity and determination shone through from an early stage.
He was the recipient of the Rising Star award as part of the company’s SHINE awards and has taken on an ambassadorial role for Modern Apprentices on many occasions for the company at local authority events and for Skills Development Scotland.
Although he did not enjoy the purely academic subjects at school, he took to management processes and procedures well. This, coupled with his enthusiasm and commitment to learn about the wider business, led to him being offered the opportunity to move into operations as a trainee manager.
To give him comprehensive experience he had to undertake work internationally on a variety of units including marine vessels and docked rigs travelling to Brazil, Alabama and Houston. He quickly demonstrated his ability to take on major operations like facility mobilisations, unsupervised, and as well as demonstrating his ability to his manager and seniors at Entier, he won the confidence and praise of the clients.
As an apprentice chef, and then as a trainee operations manager, Shane watched and learned from others in their roles. He experienced how interactions could differ depending on the setting.
Over time he built his confidence to be able to support at client meetings, and now has responsibility for leading the client meetings for the area of the business for which he is responsible.
Shane uses his journey with Entier, from apprentice to operations manager, to inspire and motivate other young people internally and externally. He is well known within DYWNE (Developing Young
Workforce North East), as he has spoken to large audiences to promote the job opportunities within the catering sector and to demonstrate that they expand beyond the typical chef route.
Shane now has operational responsibilities for Entier’s marine operations fully managing 12 assets.
The finalists
The other finalists in the category were:
- AVC Immedia - Angus Turner
- ESS Energy Government & Infrastructure - Izabela Ginter
- J+S Subsea Limited - Tom Hutchinson
- Wood - Jamie McCallum
Click here to view the finalists video.
About the sponsor
The University of Aberdeen, Scotland, is a UK Top 20 and World Top 200 University with outstanding levels of student satisfaction. Established to serve the North-east of Scotland, today the university is a global presence in higher education. A dual focus on the region and the wider world is as important to the University today as it was five centuries ago.