Circana gave Frasier the chance to be the company’s first degree apprentice at UWL’s Claude Littner Business School (CLBS) on the Chartered Managers Degree programme. He graduated as part of the first University of West London (UWL) apprenticeship degree cohort in summer 2021.

Frasier said,

I always wanted to go to work rather than study on a conventional full-time undergraduate course. Not only was I debt-free, but it allowed me to establish myself within the working world. The Circana UK Executive team were looking into the benefits of apprenticeship degrees and advertised an initial apprentice role within the Retail team.

I really enjoyed my experience at UWL. An apprenticeship degree journey is quite different from a traditional degree as you are juggling full-time work and studies, which does require a lot of commitment. The assistance from the lecturers within a supportive environment, supplemented with blended learning, really made a difference.”

For his Business Studies BA, Frasier wrote a dissertation, ‘To explore whether Senior Managers within Circana, adapt their leadership styles to help introduce Gen-Z into the workplace’. He added,

I thought, what could I do that would be impactful and relevant to my business and help further embed apprenticeships at Circana? The fantastic thing is that my work was published in a book called ‘Applications of Work-Integrated Learning Among Gen Z and Y Students’.

Frasier continues to put his degree apprenticeship to effective use, combining his current role at Circana, Senior Customer Insights Manager, with being an End Point Assessment (EPA) Apprentice Advisor at UWL.

I am now supporting other apprentices on what to include within their portfolio and how to best prepare for the EPA, so all apprentices have the confidence to succeed at the end of their apprenticeship.”

Meanwhile, Frasier’s thirst for practical learning continues. He is now doing a Senior Leadership Postgraduate Diploma at UWL, which will hopefully lead to him attaining an MBA.

Through completing my apprenticeship degree, I am much more confident in my networking skills and this laid the foundations for my career at Circana.”

Janet Rowson, Director of Apprenticeships at UWL, said,

UWL is committed to ensuring that businesses can attract and retain the very best talent as well as supporting apprentices with the necessary knowledge and skills they require to succeed.”

• Find out more about the degree apprenticeships that UWL offers across Business, Computing and Engineering, Health and Social Care, Academic, Policing and Science