National Apprenticeship Week: Apprentice to Assistant Manager

We pride ourselves on the success of our Apprentice Programmes, with all of those who have completed their course taking on a permanent role within the business.

To bring National Apprentice Week 2025 to a close, we caught up our Assistant Service Manager, Sarah, who started her career at Lloyd Newcastle BMW. Sarah joined as an apprentice eight years ago completing the 2-year Service Advisor Accreditation and progressed up to an Assistant Service Manager role today.

Read on to learn about Sarah’s career journey with us and how her apprenticeship influenced her career direction.

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Hi Sarah, tell us about your Service Advisor apprenticeship experience at Lloyd Motor Group.

My overall Service Advisor Apprenticeship at Lloyd Motor Group has been an extremely rewarding experience. 8 years ago, I started my apprenticeship at Lloyd Newcastle BMW with no automotive experience and not knowing what to expect within the Service Advisor role. I was enrolled onto the 2-year Service Advisor accreditation which consisted of 1 week training blocks at the BMW Academy, which provided further specialised training including a strong focus on the Retail environment and delivering the ultimate customer experience. I was lucky enough to be able to experience many job roles within the Aftersales department, such as Service Admin, Retention, Parts, and the Workshop.

This allowed me to meet and build relationships with so many talented and professional mentors and colleagues whose positive attitudes and efforts contributed to the overall experience at Lloyd Newcastle BMW. By doing this, Lloyd Motor Group gave me the opportunity to work on my product and process knowledge and skills whilst enhancing my own personal development, which therefore gave me the best opportunity to become a fully accredited Service Advisor.

Why did you choose to do an apprenticeship?

The reason I chose to do an apprenticeship was to be able to learn and earn productively, gaining experience whilst being able to pursue a career, which Lloyd Motor Group has given me the opportunity to do.

Tell us about your career journey from completing your apprenticeship to progressing into your current role as Assistant Service Manager at Lloyd BMW MINI Newcastle?

From joining Lloyd Newcastle BMW in 2017, I completed the 2-year Service Advisor Accreditation. I fulfilled the role of a BMW Service Advisor until 2021 where I became the Senior Service Advisor at Lloyd MINI Newcastle. During this time, I built many positive relationships with customers, gained experience, and developed my product knowledge, skills, and confidence. Fast forward 12 months and I was offered the promotion of Assistant Service Manager, a role I have now occupied for 2 years. Starting as an apprentice gave me a great insight into all the Aftersales processes across the business, and I believe that is one of the main reasons I have been able to progress my career. At Lloyd Motor Group, you are genuinely made to feel like part of the family business and not just a number. I have absolutely loved my 8 years working within the busy, high performing/achieving Aftersales department at Lloyd Newcastle.

What’s your favourite part about your current role?

The team. Being part of an enthusiastic, successful team makes Lloyd Newcastle BMW a great place to work. Everyone is always willing to help and work collectively as a team, which ultimately builds the foundation of the department, and provides customers with a great experience. Over the last 8 years I have been able to see the team grow, both personally and professionally. We have achieved and overcome challenges which we can all be extremely proud of.

Can you share a lesson or skill you learned during your apprenticeship that you have found particularly valuable?

A valuable skill I have developed is being able to problem solve to generate the best outcome, for not only the customer but the business. Within this role, things can change so quickly - we can easily be faced with a problem. Therefore, it is essential we have the skills and knowledge to be able to provide solutions whilst providing a high level of customer service. Completing the BMW Service Advisor Apprenticeship has enabled me to do this.

What advice would you give someone who is looking to pursue an apprenticeship at Lloyd Motor Group?

Give it your all! Take every opportunity given. You do not need to have Automotive experience to be successful, the apprenticeship will help you gain and develop many transferable skills throughout. Be enthusiastic and turn up with a positive hard-working attitude!

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Find out more about the apprenticeships we offer at Lloyd Motor Group below.

If you are thinking about starting an apprenticeship, we want to hear from you! Please download our apprenticeship application form below.

LLOYD MOTOR GROUP APPRENTICESHIPS