Prognosis excellent for award-winning medical supplies company employee

Posted by on 15 Mar 2018

A former apprentice at a Heywood company which supplies medical equipment to the NHS, is finding his career is in good health after scooping a top award.

Local man, Asam Qadus (21) started working at Paul Hartmann Ltd as an apprentice in 2015, before being offered a permanent role as a systems engineer. And his success was recently topped off with a Managing Director’s award for outstanding service.

The global company, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, employs 50 staff at its UK base at Heywood Distribution Park, with a further 50 based across the UK, and works across 34 countries. It supplies equipment, like wound dressings, and also provides IT platforms which are linked to NHS systems and help to reduce waste by stopping unnecessary orders.

Councillor Liam O’Rourke, Cabinet Member for Business, Skills and Employment at Rochdale Borough Council, dropped in on the company to congratulate Asam during National Apprenticeships Week (5 to 9 March).

Asam’s manager, Tom Pope, said: “Asam is exceptional. He’s really patient and has just wanted to get stuck into everything from day one, even when it involved work out-of-hours. We’ve just implemented a new IT system across the organisation and he’s taken a lead role in that. In the next year we will be merging our IT departments from across our global base, so Asam has already done some training in Germany. He will be at the forefront of our international IT network and I’m confident he will continue to thrive in that environment.”

Asam, who lives in Healey, is now studying for a degree apprenticeship in IT systems and networking.

He said: “I was surprised when I got the Managing Director’s award. It’s been a massive confidence boost and makes me want to work even harder. Apprenticeships were never seen as being a good career route to follow, but people are realising that apprenticeships offer so many opportunities, especially as the council supports them. You can learn, gain experience and attain qualifications whilst working all at the same time. I think there are great opportunities for young people in Rochdale if they go out and find them. My younger brother now wants to follow in my footsteps and is looking at an apprenticeship in IT.”

Councillor O’Rourke said: “Meeting inspirational young people like Asam is one of my favourite parts of my role as a councillor. Apprenticeships are a fantastic opportunity for young people and that’s why we support companies who want to hire and support them and also currently employ a number of them within the council. I really enjoyed meeting Asam. He is incredibly enthusiastic and has clearly grasped the many opportunities he’s been offered with both hands. We have a very bright future here in Rochdale borough and this is due in no small part to the talent of young people like Asam.”