Alex Watson - Apprentice of the Year 2026 shortlist

Commercial Motor Apprentice of the Year 2026

Alex Watson, Accounts Payable Apprentice, Keltruck Limited

• What first attracted you to the road transport industry, and who encouraged you to pursue it?

I was originally supposed to have just a few days of work experience at Keltruck as I was under the assumption that offices were a very overwhelming and noisy type of environment. I was given the opportunity to go into Keltruck’s head office and get involved within the accounts payable department for a few weeks for experience, it went so well that I was offered an apprenticeship by Keltruck.

The 3 people who encouraged me to take up my apprenticeship was my Mom who introduced me to Keltruck, my Mentor Rob and my manager Adam who made me feel comfortable in the adult world I was suddenly brought into.

• What does a typical day in your apprenticeship involve, and what skills are you developing?

For me, no day is truly the same, it normally starts with me clearing my section of accounts payable, and then reaching my hand out to my co-workers, offering my assistance when needed, this keeps me busy for a while and I weirdly enjoy it. Sometime in the afternoon, I check for any urgent emails in our official Accounts payable inbox, print any emails out and make sure to give the correct invoices to the correct co-worker, sort of putting the circle-shaped block in the circle-shaped hole kind of task. After that if any new invoices for me have printed, I will get through that and offer assistance to my co-workers, assist my manager and the accounts department if needed, and label any unfinished tasks or queries at the end of the working day.

Because of my autism, I initially found social cues and communicating effectively with suppliers and customers over the phone challenging. However, during my time at Keltruck, I have developed strategies to adapt and improve these skills. As a result, my confidence has grown significantly, enabling me to provide a better service to customers.

• What part of the job do you enjoy the most, and why?

I like tasks which involve problem solving, especially where I am in contact with people around the company at different branch’s knowing that I have helped resolve their issues and made a positive impact.

• Tell us about something you’ve learned during your apprenticeship that really surprised you.

Learning about different ways in which to talk to external customers and putting it into practise, then realising that it isn’t as scary I first imagined!

• Where do you hope your career in the industry will take you over the next 10 years?

There are loads of opportunities within the industry, I haven’t planned that far in advance but am excited to see what the future holds!

• If you could change one thing about how young people see the transport industry, what would it be?

There is a lot more involved than many people probably realise, so many different departments all working together to provide for the customer, I am always learning something new.

Who nominated Alex and why?

Alex joined us and has worked extremely hard through his apprenticeship. Alex has additional learning needs which meant both he, Keltruck and Remit had to adapt to the extra challenges he faced. He took everything in his stride and worked really hard to overcome those challenges. The results are that he achieved distinctions in various elements of his qualification through sheer determination. His mentor praised his studying in his personal time. Alex was also recognised by Keltruck in their yearly awards for this. He stands out as a genuinely caring person that is willing to help anyone with anything. He has embraced extra tasks within the department and will often stay back late to complete tasks. He has also helped other departments such as Marketing to prepare for events.

Robert Powell, Head of Resource Development

Keltruck Limited