NATHAN'S APPRENTICESHIP STORY
We asked Nathan Kapp, Senior Finance Manager at Bentley about his experience as an apprentice and his journey at Bentley...
My Bentley journey officially started in September 2009 as I came to the end of my A-Level studies, deep down I wanted to start my career rather than going to university; I saw on the Bentley Careers website the opportunity to join as an apprentice and this ticked all the boxes for me, I was luckily enough to join as one of our Commercial Apprentices within Finance.
For me this was one of the best decisions I ever made, from my first day everyone was welcoming and supportive on my journey, there is a family feel. I initially started a 3 year apprenticeship covering most departments in Finance from Credit Control; Accounts Payable; Manufacturing Finance; Sales & Marketing Finance and also Project Finance, I continued my studies and completed the qualification AAT at South Cheshire College. Bentley also offered me the chance of an overseas placement during this time which was an amazing experience in Ingolstadt, Germany at Audi’s headquarters.
Once my apprenticeship ended I joined the Engineering Finance team for the next 3 years, in this time I continued my education and became a fully qualified chartered accountant through CIMA. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here, I got experience controlling spend for R&D departments Powertrain and then later Body Trim, from monthly and annual forecasts to creating a ten year finance plans for the departments. In 2016 the next opportunity was presented to me and to return to Manufacturing Finance where I did a placement as an apprentice.
I spent the next 8 years in Manufacturing Finance, this may sound a long time in one department but I have covered many roles within the team, I have grown as person, presenting to the Board; influencing key stakeholders of the business; driving change; process optimisation whilst at the same time growing as a person.
In 2024, from a career development point of view, I was offered the exciting chance to become the Technical Assistant to the Member of the Board for Finance & IT. In this role I’m now influencing, steering and driving the Finance & IT strategy, whilst also supporting the Member of the Board for Finance & IT on a broad range of topics on a day-to-day basis which is amazing from a personal point of view; it’s crazy to look back at the person I was when I started, who was nervous to even speak to people on the phone!
Bentley is unique in many ways, the people here at Crewe are at the heart of the company, many of whom have been with the company for 20 years, there is a togetherness and a willingness to support one another, I have to say no two days are the same and personally this is what makes it so special!
Nathan Kapp - Technical Assistant to the Member of the Board Finance & IT