My work experience journey: Dave Reece

I am Dave Reece the Co-founder with Julie Eley of School of Thought Automotive, which we created in 2019 to promote career opportunities in the automotive industry for young people looking for an exciting career. But it all started in 1966 the year I started my work experience, the same year as England won the World Cup.

Before starting a career as a motor vehicle technician in 1967, I was only 14 years old and unsure of what I would do in the future. My passion at school was sports, so maybe I didn’t focus on the right subjects at school. Apart from the obligatory paper round and working for a couple of weeks peeling potatoes in a chip shop, I spent some time on a Saturday morning in a local garage doing odd jobs and serving petrol. This was my first taste of work and first taste of the automotive industry.

My dad always said he didn’t want me to work in a factory, he worked at AP [Automotive Products] making Borg and Beck clutches. My Mum also worked at AP, assembling Lockheed brake cylinders so maybe automotive was in the blood, but he gave me some sound advice and that was to get a trade.

I was offered the chance to visit our local college of further education and found my route and career in the engineering and automotive section. I knocked on a couple of garage doors and was offered a traineeship for a year which then at 16 years old, turned into a four-year apprenticeship and the rest is history.