A 26-year-old Stagecoach engineering student has received an award for his hard work and technical talent after winning the IRTE North Eastern Centre Student of the Year 2019.
Peter Billyard from Peterlee finished his Stagecoach apprenticeship last year and is now fully qualified and working full time at Stagecoach North East’s depot in Stockton.
Peter completed his apprenticeship between 2014 and 2018 before taking up a permanent role as a Shift Mechelec. Recently promoted to Chargehand, Peter’s responsibilities include vehicle maintenance and servicing, as well as delegating tasks to colleagues at the depot.
He says: “I am really pleased with this award. It was a total surprise when my name was called out and I had to go up and collect the award in front of all the other apprentices at the ceremony.”
Peter was presented with the award by Mick Sweetmore, President of the Society of Operations Engineers, at the Annual IRTE North Eastern Centre Awards at the Hilton Newcastle/Gateshead.
Gary Chisholm, Engineering Director for Stagecoach North East, says: “Peter has worked extremely hard and is a great advocate of the apprenticeship programme. He is thoroughly deserving of the award and we’re very proud that he is part of the Stagecoach family.”