BRANCHING out into customer service has led to a full-time job at a tree farm for County Durham TEC Modern Apprentice Emma Wright.

Emma 18, from Chester-le-Street gained the full-time position with Birtley-based Trees Please following an NVQ level 3 in Customer Service with Durham Business Club.

Although she had already passed her NVQ Level 2 in Business Administration, it was when she decided to gain further qualifications in customer service that she was offered a placement with Trees Please.

Emma explains: "Trees Please offered me a permanent position recently after I had worked there for several months. I suppose I probably thought I'd work in a town or city centre, but this is a great job.

"I greet customers, take their orders through to invoicing and payment. I also handle any inquiries they might have about their account. I deal with customers in the UK, as well as in France and other parts of Europe."

Emma's NVQ in customer service included satisfying customer needs and instigating immediate and permanent improvements. It also covered maintaining reliable service, communicating with customers, developing positive working relationships and problem-solving on a customer's behalf.

Emma's tutor, Sue Todd, says: "Emma's confidence has gone from strength to strength - as has her knowledge. She understands many of the Latin names for the trees and is enjoying herself immensely."

Trees Please is based on a 300-acre farm and has a stock of several million trees, which are freshly lifted, graded and dispatched to farmers, foresters, land owners and landscapers throughout the UK.

The company grows conifers such as larch, pine, spruce and broadleaves, such as ash, beech and oak. It also specialises in the collection and growing of native broadleaf and shrub seeds such as alder, birch, blackthorn, hawthorn and willow. The business has expanded to such a degree that it will now be relocating to Corbridge in Northumberland within the next 18 months.

Anyone recently left school or college and thinking about a Modern Apprenticeship should contact County Durham TEC for further information on 01325 372700