Careers at Cadent

They say that it runs in the blood, well it certainly does for Katie and Phil Thorley.

When Katie was growing up, she watched her Dad work as a Pressure, Control & Storage (PC&S) Technician within the Energy Operations team at Cadent. Back then, never did she imagine that she’d end up following in his footsteps.

But, fast forward a few years when Katie, now 20 from Nottingham, was preparing to leave school and wasn’t really sure what she wanted to do next; a situation that I know will be familiar for parents, and young people, all over the country. And then came the lightbulb moment…

Phil, also from Nottingham, mentioned to Katie that Cadent offered an apprenticeship scheme. It would give her the opportunity to learn whilst she earned, develop new skills and work in an industry – and for a company -  that keeps people warm in their homes, whilst also protecting the planet.

Katie said: “When it was first discussed it as an idea, I wasn’t 100% sure, but my Dad told me about the amount of variety in his job, the places he gets to go and visit, and that this was a chance for me to experience something new and gain a load more skills.”

Starting her journey

And with that, aged just 16, Katie started her Cadent journey in September 2021. She was successful in joining Cadent’s apprenticeship scheme, and over the next two and a half years she spent periods of time working within different parts of the business training and developing her skills. The apprenticeship also saw her working and training in different parts of the country.

But, inevitably, Katie’s apprenticeship journey came full circle, and in the end, her training eventually become focussed on becoming a Pressure, Control & Storage (PC&S) Technician; like father, like daughter, eh?

“After I looked at the different areas of the business that I had the opportunity to work in, it just made sense. I could see how much my Dad enjoys his job, and joining that team would allow me to work with some great people (not just my Dad!), travel around all of the East Midlands Network, and have a job with so much variety.” said Katie.

A family legacy

In April 2024, Katie completed her apprenticeship, and since then she has gone from strength to strength. She is now a fully integrated member of the East Midlands Energy Operations team, and as you might have guessed, both Katie and Phil are now PC&S Technicians. Whilst Phil now works part time, when he is at work, he is regularly working with Katie.

Speaking about completing her apprenticeship, Katie said: “I love my job at Cadent. Every day really is different, and whilst you might not always be working with customers, knowing that you are contributing to keeping the gas flowing for millions of customers across the whole of the East Midlands and the rest of the country is something that means a lot. When you tell people you work for a gas company, they probably don’t realise how interesting it is, and it is even better that I get to take after my Dad.”