A coffee with Adam

Adam started life at A.D. as an apprentice, and his hard work has certainly paid off! 

Our latest apprentice, Nathan, will definitely benefit from Adam’s advice and knowledge to follow in his footsteps and create great things with us!

Here is what we discussed…

First up, tell us a little more about your role – What does a day in the life of a Project Executive look like?

Processing orders, maintaining and supervising client webstores, thoroughly checking everything and speaking with our suppliers and clients.

What would you say to someone on the lookout for an apprenticeship?

Stepping into a business so young can feel daunting at first, and you need to allow and expect a period of adjustment, which is going from school or college education to the adult working world. 

Don’t be hard on yourself if it’s not as immediately adaptable as you will be hoping for – this is what apprenticeships are for; to learn and prepare yourself for the working world. Speaking from experience, my apprenticeship has helped me in terms of work, personal life and general growth.

What would you say are the main three benefits of an apprenticeship?

1. Experience of working whilst obtaining qualifications.
2. The ability to learn on the job whilst earning.
3. An opportunity to see what direction you would like to go in life in terms of career roles as you progress.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

“Progress isn’t measured by how we feel. It’s measured by the actions we take”.

Countryside or city?

I like both the quiet of the countryside and the liveliness of a city. A mix of both is best, in my opinion. 

Tea or coffee?

Coffee!

What would you do if you had an extra week’s holiday each year?

I would like to use it for a trip, perhaps to somewhere such as London. A short break is excellent for refreshing the mind.

If you could be any Game of Thrones character, which one would you be?

Tyrion Lannister, as I think he could survive in Westeros by talking alone, which is a skill in itself.

What was the last thing you bought?

A Malteser McFlurry. Nothing exciting, although I would like another one now thinking about it…

What does your desk look like?

Tidy! I can’t work with an untidy desk. I don’t feel like I’ve got my head straight otherwise. The desk has to be tidy before starting anything else.

What’s your favourite time of day?

Night time as I can go to bed and sleep, haha!

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

‘A Dance with Dragons’ part 2. The latest novel in the ‘A Song of Ice & Fire’ (Game of Thrones) series. I enjoyed the Game of Thrones TV show and recently re-read the novels. The show was great; however, the novels have much more content and are the ‘original story’. Well worth a read if you enjoyed the series!

What superpower would you like to have?

Teleportation. I do a lot of travelling, and it would make my life easier as I’m sure it would for everyone else.

Where do you hang out online: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn?

Instagram, mainly to follow football stories and then LinkedIn for work purposes. 

The big question is, who do you support?

Manchester United, which is ideal as we work right next to the stadium with my office window providing a great view into the stadium!

We could’ve guessed!

So, apart from Manchester United, what’s the one thing you could not live without?

The internet – it’s used for everything!

What makes an excellent team for you?

A team that is dedicated to their work and gives every task (no matter how big or how small) the attention and time they deserve to ensure they can be done as accurately as possible the first time.

What three traits define you?

Versatility, willingness to take chances and devotion to goals.

What motivates you?

Seeing the benefits of a task that has had a tremendous amount of time and work put into it begin to take effect. I then feel more motivated to put the same amount of time and work into the next task.

What do you get up to in your spare time?

I have been learning French for the last few years, and then I like to go for walks to clear my head during the evening.

If you could sum up the A.D. team in one word, what would it be?

Driven.

What’s the first thing you do when you get in the office?

Switch my computer on and take a look over my notes for the day to prioritise my workload.

What led you to choose an apprenticeship? 

I couldn’t find a course which I was interested in taking at university, so I decided to look at apprenticeships, and here we are!

What’s one thing that surprised you about working at A.D.?

How much the people care for their work and what it means to them – it’s more than a job; it’s their livelihood and who they are. This attitude rubbed off on me quite quickly, thankfully.

What’s one of your favourite memories from the past year?

Seeing the business begin to gather momentum after a tough year and my colleagues return to work which I’m sure most people can relate to!

What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

I don’t like beach holidays, sorry! I find them boring and a complete waste of time and money – I prefer to see the world’s sights and explore different places.

If you could add one thing to the office, what would it be?

A slide out of the window down to the ground floor would make getting downstairs so much easier and fun!

And finally, what’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re really proud of?

The setup of our client, Speedy Services’ webstore. This took a lot of work behind the scenes, which included visits to our partner warehouse, which holds a number of our clients’ stock. The webstore looks fantastic and allows Speedy to call off their stock as and when required, ideal for short notice requirements.

Thanks for taking the time to tell us more about you, Adam!

We are sure that our new apprentice, Nathan will be grateful to have you to come to with any advice they need. 

Would you like to work with Adam and the rest of our fantastic team?

Let’s make something awesome together. Start a project.