Nicky McMillan

Nicky McMillan

Apprenticeship Manager & Safeguarding Lead

Our Reading Depot is home to our very own Nicky, fun and bubbly, and with years of experience too – we think you’ll like her very much. Nicky started her time in transport as a trainee bus driver in Brighton & Hove where she then became a fully qualified bus driver and served the local routes for six years, meeting and greeting the locals with a smile. Nicky then decided to broaden her horizons and moved over to coaches for both National and International, short and long-haul journeys (chasing the sun) as far as Italy and everything in between. She continued with Coaches for four years before deciding to transfer to goods vehicles, quickly qualifying for her C (Rigid) and C+E (Articulated) licences. In the next few years, Nicky found herself in a multitude of exciting roles whilst working as an agency driver; from Multi-drop to refrigerated, curtain-siders to flatbeds she’s done it all. But Nicky decided that she wanted to mix things up a bit and took a full-time role with concrete mixers for the next few years. But Nicky had always wanted to become an Instructor right from when she first started as a trainee Bus driver – Now was the time, and she joined the team at 2 Start in 2014. Nicky now teaches on all of our road-going vehicles, is a fully qualified Instructor on the National Register of LGV Instructors, is qualified for the carriage of Dangerous Goods, as well as recently qualified as an ITSSAR Instructor/Examiner for forklifts; who knows what’s next! Outside the Instructors seat, Nicky enjoys a daily swim (750 meters a day, at least!), spending time with her family and having a nice hot curry. So come and meet Nicky, we think she’s great – and we’re sure you’ll agree.

2018

This year, not only was Nicky 2 Start’s Instructor of the Year, but also Talent in Logistics LGV Instructor of the Year 2018.

During this period, she has developed her skills and confidence and has gained excellent feedback and results from her students. Her calm manner and ability to embed information into her students is exemplary. We consider Nicky a real asset, recognising that she always goes the extra mile.

2019

In 2019, Nicky passed her BTEC Level 3 in Education and Training.

Managing Director at 2 Start, Paul Moon said “At 2 Start we believe in the continuous improvement of our staff and providing the best level of training we possibly can and Nicky is a good example of this”

We are extremely proud to have Nicky as an instructor and this achievement will allow us to increase the level of training that we already provide to our customers.

This course required Nicky to learn both classroom and practical teaching skills, giving her different tools which can be used to meet varying needs. This course gives Nicky the skills to:

  • Train apprentices and adult learners in a measured and recognised way.
  • Plan effective teaching and learning, so that everyone involved has the chance to learn new skills.

2020

In 2020, Nicky completed her 1000th hour of teaching CPC, after many courses and a lot of hours teaching CPC training.

Nicky also passed her National Register of LGV Instructors courses this year.

Nicky passed her Re-registration training. Having instructors on the National Register of LGV Instructors allows us to provide top quality training and ensure our students get the best standard of training possible.

Here at 2 Start, we deeply believe in ensuring the safety and well being of all of our students. That is why we ensure we have a dedicated safeguarding member of staff.

Nicky is our dedicated safeguarding member and has completed a number of courses in the following areas:

  • Read the Keeping Children Safe in Education 2019 document
  • Read our 2020 Safeguarding Policy and Procedure and understands it
  • Prevent for Practitioners online
  • Prevent for Leaders online
  • FGM training
  • Forced marriages and so-called honour-based violence training
  • Prevent Referrals online
  • Safeguarding training
  • Equality and diversity training

Nicky completes ongoing training to help her stay up to date and compliant with procedures and policies.

2022

Nicky underwent a randomly selected audit by JAUPT for one of our Driver CPC courses this year. These audits are completed to ensure that training is carried out to the highest standard possible and that instructors are qualified and confident in the delivery of their course.

Nicky impressed on this audit, with the assessor commenting that her delivery was “informative and engaging” and there was a clear display of Nicky’s “advanced knowledge of the subject matter and industry”.

Furthermore, Nicky was described as using “engaging interaction” and observed as being “engaging, confident & relatable”. Hearing these great comments about Nicky shows that these goals are being met and that our students are getting the most from their training experience!

Additionally, Nicky received no continuous improvements or action points from her course!