Sheffield Apprentice Advances Career by Scaling Furnaces

Annabelle Eastman, a 22-year-old apprentice electrician in Sheffield, is advancing her career, which involves ascending large furnaces. She is among the 23 apprentices hired by Sheffield Forgemasters in 2024. Sheffield Forgemasters, a company owned by the Ministry of Defence, has recruited apprentices across various departments and is preparing to welcome an additional intake in 2025. Ms Eastman stated, “You have to be able to go up high and work so you do need a head for heights.” The apprentice, who hails from Barnsley, explained: “I can do anything from going up and fixing a crane panel because it’s not working right to going on top of the furnace, which are about fifteen metres above the floor. “It’s interesting because you see everything differently when you’re high up, seeing how something so tall operates is really cool.” Ms Eastman completed A Levels but opted against university, preferring to acquire skills through on-the-job training. She remarked, “I was brought up around my dad and my uncle who had both done apprenticeships, so it has always been something I’m interested in.” She added, “I did physics at A level and really enjoyed the theory, so I decided to specialise in electrical installation.” Her training was conducted at Arena Training Centre in Darnall, which operates as a specialist electrical college. Ms Eastman commented, “I thought, why not give it a shot working in industry because it’s something completely different and there is massive scope to work in it.” She is currently in the second year of a four-year course, which is structured to accommodate her work, and plans to remain with Forgemasters upon its completion. She further stated, “An apprenticeship also means I have support at both work and college.” She concluded, “I have two support systems and I genuinely could not wish for a better set of people to work with.” Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.