Introducing Jack De’Ath, former MGTS apprentice, who kindly took time out to be a guest speaker at our 2025 Apprentice Awards. Jack engaged the audience with details of his career so far…we hope you enjoy reading his story.
“My apprenticeship began in 2011 with Valley Engineering, a refrigeration company that specialise in process and vacuum cooling with key customers based in the food process industry. Whilst my time at MGTS was very involved, I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who had a forward-thinking mindset and specific skill set required to be a successful engineer. After completing my HNC I remained at Valley until 2018, when I decided to travel to Australia and Asia. This decision was not made lightly as I really enjoyed my job and working with the team at Valley. However, it turned out to be a great decision as I had the time of my life!!
“My qualifications proved to be invaluable during my time in Australia. Unlike some of my friends along the way, work was not hard to come by. I was able to put my engineering and refrigeration skills to full use. I actually came back from my travels with money – much to my parent’s surprise! One of the projects I worked on was for an events company. This company employed both myself and my friend (another MGTS apprentice) to travel to Broome in Western Australia where we set up a refrigeration plant which chilled a large temporary structure for a political conference.
“During my travels I often found myself thinking about potential career paths for when I returned home. I had discovered the qualifications gained from my apprenticeship opened opportunities in many more areas of expertise than I had anticipated. I concluded that a return to Valley was the most beneficial option – if they would have me! Fortunately, during my interview on my return, they were very impressed by my ideas and experience I had gained during my travels. As a result, they offered me a promotion in the form of Air Conditioning & Service Supervisor. I fully embraced this role and took on a team of engineers. I was responsible for organising their workload and passing on my expertise to them.
“The owner of Valley, Nick Murphy, was key in my development from apprentice to my return as a Supervisor. His methodical, caring and knowledgeable personality showed me what it takes to be successful in this industry. Through the years, I worked alongside Nick to provide initiatives on how to improve our work methods and skill sets. Some were chosen, some not! Sadly in 2023, Nick passed away very suddenly. This was extremely hard for me personally and the team to deal with. Unknown to us, Nick and his wife Jane had decided to turn the company into an Employee-Owned Trust – a company which has no owner and is run by a Board of Directors. Myself and two others were chosen to be these Directors and we have carried on Nick’s legacy. We have invested in training and developing the company and I am proud to say we run the company in a profitable manner. Since taking on this role we have gained several new customers, one of which is managed by a former apprentice from my course. We have stayed in touch over the years, and I have maintained many friendships/contacts with several of the other apprentices – you never know when you are going to meet up again!”
Photo credit: Dave Warren / Picture Team