AN apprentice from Bury is celebrating an enviable double after receiving two top accolades in one week.

Ben Howarth took the Apprentice Award at Bury College’s annual Celebration of Achievement hot on the heels of being named Apprentice of the Year at the region’s Skills for Business awards.

The 22-year-old, who is serving his Bury College apprenticeship with data and telecommunications specialist Pennine Telecom, received his award from Charlie Deane, Bury College’s principal and chief executive, at a glittering award ceremony.

He was particularly commended for the impact he had on the successful launch of the Bury company’s mobile virtual network operator, PennineMobile.

Ben was also praised for his work in promoting in-work training to school students across the region through his role as a lead apprenticeship ambassador for the Greater Manchester Learning Partnership Network.

Sandra Morton, deputy principal at Bury College, said: “Ben is an intelligent and dynamic individual who has shown not only a fantastic commitment to developing his own skills at Pennine Telecom, but to advocating the value of apprenticeships to his younger peers in Bury and across Greater Manchester. He has clearly demonstrated how the personal and vocational skills developed through an apprenticeships can empower young people and make a positive impact on the employer.”

A former Elton High School student, Ben joined Salford Street-based Pennine in 2012 and has since then secured an NVQ level two in customer service, level three in business administration and is set to complete level four this year.

He said: “Winning these two awards has been amazing, the icing on the cake of what has been a great three years at Pennine. I’ve learned so much in that time and being in the workplace picked up skills that I never could have learned in the classroom. My experience shows that a good education doesn’t have to mean university and that vocational training can offer an exceptional career path.”

He added that the success of Pennine’s managing director Andrew Roberts and product director Geoff King was inspiring, with both having joined the company as apprentices.

Ben’s success at the Celebration of Achievement came the night after he accepted his Skills for Business trophy.