Elite Paper Solutions

Elite Paper Solutions hired 21-year-old Josh O’leary from Tredegar, as an apprentice in 2017.

Josh’s learning disability means that he finds it difficult to take in complex information and struggles to communicate.

Ian Thomas, Enterprise Manager at Elite Paper Solutions, says: “Josh has become a completely different person since he started with us in 2017. His confidence has drastically improved, and he’s a very dependable and integral member of staff within the warehouse team. As a business, we find the valuable work opportunities we offer through apprenticeships are the most cost-effective way of giving employees of all abilities a chance to thrive in the workplace, while they gain the skills our business needs to deliver the high-quality services our customers expect.

Since becoming a Warehousing apprentice, Josh has learnt a variety of skills including project management, team working and how to communicate effectively with his peers. Having completed his Level 2 qualification, Josh is now working towards his Level 3 Warehousing Apprenticeship.

Learning from the more experienced members of staff has really helped Josh’s development and working closely with them has made him feel like part of a family. Josh’s additional learning needs haven’t been an issue on site, and we’re hoping to work closely with him to develop into a supervisory role.