A TIME served apprentice who has risen through the ranks at GSK in Ulverston has been put forwards for a Heart of Ulverston Award.

Dominic Miller, 23 of Abbey Road, Barrow, who works at the North Lonsdale Road GSK plant has been nominated for employee of the year.

In five short years, Mr Miller has been promoted, been to industry award ceremonies and has even met the Queen.

From a young age Mr Miller was interested in becoming an engineer.

He studied at St Bernard's High School in Barrow, and then at Barrow Sixth Form College to fulfil his ambition.

After struggling to decide between an apprenticeship, eventually Mr Miller decided to apply to become an apprentice mechanical technician at GSK.

Mr Miller said: "I decided to do the apprenticeship and never looked back."

He was successful and was taken on at the plant, starting in 2011.

Mr Miller spoke very highly of the apprenticeship programme, but was not dismissive of young people who want to go to university.

He said: "I do think its good going to uni, but it's also good that you can get some hands-on experience during an apprenticeship.

"You get a good baseline knowledge which was really beneficial. I believe it is a great way of doing it."

During the five years it took to become time served, Mr Miller was made to feel like a valued member of the team in spite of his young age.

He said: "Through the apprenticeship I was invited along with senior engineers to the Industrial Chemical Engineering Awards."

On top of this, because of his exceptional talent, he won a top scholarship, placing him in the elite engineering prospects in the country.

Now he is the recipient of a Whitworth Scholarship, Mr Miller is continuing his studies at Lancaster University, on a four year part-time course at Furness College.

One of the highlights of Mr Miller's short career was when he met the Queen.

He spoke to the Queen as a representative of GSK Ulverston at the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering in October of last year.

"We had a short conversation about my future. She was very nice," Mr Miller said.

At just 23, Mr Miller is now preparing to start a new role at GSK after being promoted.

From next month Mr Miller will be the new plant engineer at the North Lonsdale Road Site.

After being nominated, Mr Miller wanted to thank GSK for the help.

He said: "They've been great; I couldn't have asked any more from them."

If you know a stand-out person like Mr Miller, now is your chance to nominate them for a Heart of Ulverston Award.

Nominees must live or work in Ulverston or the surrounding villages.

There are more than 10 categories to nominate from, welcoming people from all walks of life.

Click here to complete the online application form, it will only take five minutes, and could mean the world to one lucky person.

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