Jensen Lymer may not have turned 18 at the time he was entered as Young Business Person of the Year in the Staffordshire University Business Awards, but he is already proving to be a huge asset for the multi-million-pound company he works for.

He joined JPR Group Ltd as an apprentice electrician engineer in July 2021, aged just 16.

However, a few months into his training he took a colour blindness test and failed. Jensen funded two further tests himself with an optician and an occupational health company.
Both came back positive meaning he could no longer continue his electrical training. Jensen was devastated, as were his family.
But because JPR had seen such potential, they did not want to let him go so they brainstormed and created a role for him as a junior engineer and quantity surveyor.
They are giving him two years general training, learning all about the diverse business from the shop-floor upwards. At the end of this period, they will assess his needs in terms of training and skills to move in a direction best suited to him. This may be an HMC higher level qualification. Basically, whatever is right for him to grow educationally and vocationally.

Paula Fergusson, Company Secretary at the Stoke-on-Trent company, said: “Jensen Lymer is a very talented and determined young man. And for someone who only turns 18 in April 2023, he is already a huge asset to our business.

“I would describe Jensen as being smart, articulate, respectful, very driven with a positive mindset.
He can relate to anyone of any age or status in the company and he helps to mentor and support many of the apprentices and has even been known to support and mentor staff much older and more experienced than he is.
“Jensen’s hobby is cage fighting and I believe that this has helped him with his discipline, respect and focus which he displays in the workplace. “

She added: “Every task that Jensen undertakes is carried out with enthusiasm and a desire to learn from the experience.
“He is ‘sponge-like’ in the way he absorbs knowledge. Both technical and in the wider context of how the job he is doing relates to the wider business.
“It really is a pleasure to have Jensen as part of JPR Group and he is having a very positive and motivational effect on everyone he comes in to contact with internally and externally.
“Despite being with JPR Group for less than two years Jensen has already had a positive impact on the business in many ways. His positivity and determination are infectious, and he inspires and subtly challenges others to achieve.
“He could have so easily given up when he found he was colour-blind, but this only seems to have made him more determined to prove himself and to forge ahead with his career.
“It is still early days for Jensen but its sometimes difficult to remember he is not yet 18 at the time of submitting this award.”

Building services specialists, JPR group was established in 1972. The company has seen turnover grow in the past three years from around £10M to an estimated £20M at the end of the current financial year.

Group divisions include Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing, Fire and Security and Data and Telecoms.