Amy Reynolds winner of the ALFED Rising Star Apprentice Award 2026

An award may recognise the journey. The real value is what comes next.

When Amy Reynolds heard her name announced as the winner of the ALFED Rising Star Apprentice Award, her first reaction was a spontaneous “Yeah!”. A few days later, the significance of the moment has had a little more time to sink in.

For Amy, HR Manager at BOAL Extrusion UK, the award marks the completion of two demanding years combining her role at BOAL with a Senior People Professional Apprenticeship and Master’s degree at the University of Exeter. But the more interesting story is not simply that she completed the programme or won an award. It is what changed along the way – in the way she approaches her role, how BOAL thinks about developing its people and, increasingly, how the business prepares for the skills it will need in the years ahead.

“I look further ahead now. It’s important to understand what is happening in the business today, but also what it means for us in the years ahead and how our people plans can support BOAL’s goals.”

From learning to a business need

When Amy started the programme two years ago, she saw it partly as the final step towards becoming fully qualified in HR. She also wanted to challenge herself and develop the knowledge and confidence to contribute more strategically. That distinction matters in manufacturing.

Machines, processes and technology can be invested in, upgraded and maintained. The knowledge and experience required to operate a manufacturing business are built over years – and some of that knowledge sits with individuals. That makes questions around skills, succession and development much more than HR topics.

At BOAL, Amy has applied her studies to workforce development and succession planning, helping to create more structured conversations about critical roles, future skills and leadership capability. Those conversations are increasingly being translated into practical actions, from leadership development and career pathways to apprenticeship opportunities.

“Manufacturing relies on people with the right skills, knowledge and experience working well together. Good people management makes a difference when it helps us retain that knowledge, develop colleagues, support managers and plan for the skills we’ll need next.”

Succession planning became a particularly useful bridge between Amy’s academic work and a practical business requirement. Rather than simply asking who might replace someone in a particular role, it encourages a broader conversation: which capabilities will the business need in future, where are the potential gaps and how can people be given the opportunity to develop before those gaps become a problem?

The future workforce may not know manufacturing yet

That forward-looking approach also raises another question: where will the next generation of manufacturing talent come from? For Amy, part of the answer lies outside the factory.

BOAL Extrusion UK has been developing relationships with local schools and colleges, offering work experience and apprenticeships and, most recently, welcoming students onto site as part of National Manufacturing Day. Their reactions were revealing.

Students were surprised by the scale of the site and machinery, but also by the amount of knowledge, technology and decision-making involved in turning aluminium into a finished extrusion. It highlighted a challenge that extends well beyond BOAL: young people cannot seriously consider careers they know very little about.

“There can be a misconception that manufacturing offers a narrow range of jobs. Once young people come on site, they can see the variety of technical, operational and professional skills involved.”

For Amy, that means manufacturers cannot rely solely on job advertisements when they need new talent. Giving young people the opportunity to step inside a manufacturing environment, meet the people working there and experience the industry for themselves can start much earlier.

Attracting people, however, is only half of the equation. Once somebody joins, there needs to be a reason to stay. Training, clear development opportunities and managers who take an active interest in people’s progress all contribute to showing someone that manufacturing can offer a career rather than simply a first job.

Development does not stop with experience

There is another side to Amy’s story that perhaps makes the Rising Star recognition particularly relevant.

Apprenticeships have played a role at two very different stages of her career. Amy started her HR career 15 years ago as an HR apprentice, studying at Level 3. Now, as HR Manager, she has returned to the apprenticeship route as part of her continuous professional development, this time studying at Level 7.

That progression has given her the opportunity to experience apprenticeships from two very different perspectives: first as someone taking her initial steps into HR, and now as an experienced professional using the same route to continue developing her knowledge and strategic capability.

Combining a responsible HR role with postgraduate study was demanding. Studying remotely meant much of the research and learning was self-directed, while deadlines at university still had to fit around the everyday demands of working in a manufacturing business.

There were personal, professional and academic challenges along the way. Amy is particularly proud that none of them stopped her completing what she had set out to achieve.

The experience has also changed her view of professional development.

“It has made me realise the impact continuous professional development has at any stage in your career, whether you’re starting out or, in my case, 15 years later. There is always something to learn and a skill to develop.”

She is equally clear that development does not happen in isolation. Amy credits colleagues across BOAL for contributing to her learning, alongside her academic mentor Clare Luke and the members of her Action Learning Set.

In particular, she points to BOAL Extrusion UK Managing Director Emma Swann, who acted as her workplace mentor throughout the programme.

“Emma encouraged me, challenged my thinking and gave me the space to put what I was learning into practice.”

That last part is perhaps as important as the qualification itself. Learning has greater value when there is an opportunity to test it, question it and apply it to real situations.

So, what comes after “Yeah!”?

Amy initially thought that after two years of combining work and study she might take a break from formal development. That plan appears to have been relatively short-lived. Train-the-trainer and mediator courses are already on her list, and she is consciously working towards Fellowship of the CIPD.

The ALFED award has added something else: confidence. A few days after that spontaneous reaction at the dinner, Amy describes the significance rather differently.

“It means a lot to have the work I’ve put into my apprenticeship, and the work I’m doing at BOAL, recognised by people across the industry. More than anything, it has given me confidence to keep developing, keep challenging myself and see where the next opportunity takes me.”

An award recognises a moment in time. The knowledge, confidence and opportunities created along the way can have a much longer life. And perhaps that is what makes ‘Rising Star’ particularly fitting. For Amy, winning it does not feel very much like an ending.