The first graduate trainee at dealer group Vertu Motors has progressed into a senior role at Bristol Street Motors Lichfield.

Business and economics graduate Andrew Wilson (pictured) has become the first person to complete the Vertu Motors' graduate trainee scheme and become a full-time, permanent service manager at the dealership.

Wilson, a graduate of Liverpool John Moores University, has completed a three-year training programme with Vertu and the company is putting him through a masters’ degree in strategic automotive dealership management at Loughborough University, which he is studying for whilst working full time at the dealership.

During his training he worked across all departments at five different dealerships and spending three months at Vertu’s head office in Gateshead.

Wilson said: “I would encourage any graduates who are prepared to put in the effort and go the extra mile for the company to apply for a position on this scheme – they will get a lot out of it and they certainly won’t regret it.”

Matthew Barr, human resources director at Vertu Motors, said: “Andrew is the perfect example of the type of person we are looking for in a management trainee. He has the qualities we like to see in all of our colleagues – a proactive attitude, drive, ambition, energy, enthusiasm and most of all, talent. He has proved himself across all different departments and been a great new addition to the team.”