CMI Awards: meet the Apprentice of the Year shortlist

Academia and the working world have a huge amount to teach each other. Today, thousands of management apprentices are out there making a tangible difference to workplaces all over the world – feeding insights from academic study into their day-to-day practice, and vice versa. 

This is all made possible by powerful partnerships being forged between CMI, education providers and UK businesses.

No matter where they are in their leadership journey, these apprentices are diligently juggling the pressures of full-time roles and rigorous study with any number of other responsibilities. But the results are more than worth the effort – not just in their personal development, but for their organisations and even wider society. 

Ask Will Burchell CMgr FCMI, CMI’s Apprentice of the Year in 2023. He is an alumnus of Nottingham Trent University, who says a Level 7 Senior Leader Degree Apprenticeship was key to him becoming a chief executive (of the Bone Cancer Research Trust). 

“I consider myself so lucky to be in a position where applying my learning can benefit so many people and communities,” Will told us, adding that “vocational learning only gets you so far”. 

“The CMI apprenticeship has reinforced my desire to continue to learn and develop, and redoubled my commitment to put my energy into making a positive difference in our society.” 

The CMI Apprentice of the Year award celebrates outstanding apprentices who are committed to developing themselves and making an impact. Like Will, they’re learning on the job, bolstering their knowledge with established management and leadership principles, and turning it into real-world innovation.

Here are the apprentices on this year’s shortlist…