Bradlee Radford, Apprentice
Bradlee is a Butchery Apprentice with Hull based Cranswick Country Foods, one of the largest pork producers in the UK. In addition to his budding skills as a butcher, Bradlee is also a rugby league star, having played for his country on a number of occasions. Cranswick have been incredibly supportive of his passion.
“I have been very lucky with my butchery apprenticeship, because my employers have always supported me with my rugby career and have allowed me to train and tour with my country whenever needed.”
Cranswick developed their apprenticeship programme to address difficulties they were facing with recruiting skilled butchers, deciding to invest in upskilling and developing local talent. Bradlee is one young person leveraging this opportunity to acquire in-demand high-level skills that will pave the way for his career.
As part of his apprenticeship Bradlee receives mentoring and one to one training onsite within the Cranswick fresh meat division. As his experience and butchery skills develop he will be integrated into the production line, putting these skills into practice alongside a team of highly trained butchers. His off-site teaching at college alongside this practical hands-on experience enables him constantly build his knowledge and capabilities, whilst he is earning.
Alongside his ambitions to become a butcher, Bradlee is also a keen rugby league player, playing with local teams who have won the Hull League Cup thirteen times and Yorkshire Division one cup three times. As a result of this success Bradlee was selected to represent England at a junior and senior level with the under-19 and 23-year olds.
Bradlee said of his international experience “Last year was a very successful year for me in my career, not only did I win the European cup with my England team mates, I also had the chance to train with the Samoa national team when they were playing in the world cup in England. I also played in the European cup final against France which we won 14-12 to win the European cup for the first time for England - which was an amazing achievement.”
Cranswick have been incredibly supportive of his rugby career. Bradlee commented “I have been very lucky with my butchery apprenticeship, because my employers have always supported me with my rugby career and have allowed me to train and tour with my country whenever needed.”