Apprentice teen delivers the goods at Eagle Couriers

Alana Jamieson was taken on by Eagle Couriers as an apprentice

Alana Jamieson, 18 from Livingston, joined Eagle Couriers in April 2014 after struggling through school with dyscalculia – a condition similar to dyslexia but which affects the ability to understand numbers and arithmetic.

The former pupil of Inveralmond Community High School in Livingston is now well and truly overcoming the condition in her role as operations assistant with the West Lothian-based firm and is being heralded by the company’s directors as the perfect example to the merits of apprenticeships and practical training.

At Eagle Couriers’ Bathgate headquarters, Alana has earned important workplace qualifications through the apprenticeship, while gaining valuable experience helping the firm’s largest clients in both the public and private sector.

Alana said: “As thankful as I am to Eagle Couriers for how much my life has changed in the past few years, I think it is my parents who are the most grateful, as they have witnessed first-hand a transformation from a discontented youth to a young professional.

“I’m not entirely sure where I’d be without Eagle. It has made me much more independent – I now have a car and I’m looking to move from home, but perhaps the biggest thing it has done is give me ambitions to use all that I am learning so I can push on in my career and one day even own my own business.

In July 2015, Alana completed her SVQ2 in Business Administration and is now working on completing SVQ3, reflecting her growing experience and competencies.

Co-Director at Eagle Couriers, Jerry Stewart, said: “Traditional education and schooling truly isn’t for everyone. Both Fiona Deas, my fellow Co-Director and I are real believers in on the job training – there is simply no substitute for the practical skills that you acquire while earning your way in life.”