Mohamed Shihub, 36, joined Leeds Trinity in 2019 on the University’s flagship Business-to-Business (B2B) Sales Professional Degree apprenticeship. This opportunity was offered through his employer as a means to upskill him for his B2B sales role, and ensure his continued development.

Mohamed’s apprenticeship consisted of a full time role, with degree study built in, allowing him to put academic theory into real practice in the workplace. As he continued on the programme, he balanced this with looking after his new-born children whilst his wife was a key worker throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Mohamed also suffers with 70% hearing loss, where he can only hear certain frequencies of sound.

Despite juggling multiple responsibilities and struggling with elements of his studying due to his hearing impairment, Mohamed persevered to complete his course with the help of his lecturers, including his personal tutor and Senior Work-Based Learning Tutor, Kirsty Beckett.

He now has aspirations to utilise the knowledge he gained on his course to start his own business within the energy sector. Mohamed is particularly passionate about using his experience to support customers that also suffer with hearing loss, to ensure that he can provide an inclusive service to all.

Mohamed said: “Leeds Trinity University offered me support on every level whenever I needed it, to ensure my work was completed. Due to my disability, my circumstances meant it was hard to balance my family, work and University, but Leeds Trinity was more focused on me succeeding than just attending for the sake of it.

“I am now able to see things differently, and I wasn't aware of my capabilities until I was progressing through the course. The course has given me insights on how to create businesses and how they function, as well as growing a business.

“Having previous degrees in business information technology and IT for management has allowed me to take a step further and combine both backend and frontend elements, along with my Business-to-Business Sales degree, to ensure any future business is a success.”

Kirsty Beckett, Senior Work-Based Learning Tutor at Leeds Trinity University, said: “Mohamed came to the UK as a young child unable to speak the English language. As a result of this he faced challenges throughout his early stages of education but worked hard and progressed into a career within the sales industry.

“Whilst completing the Business-to-Business Sales Degree Apprenticeship, Mohamed worked for a large energy provider in the UK. Through this time, Mohamed regularly became one of the top salespeople in his team despite challenging market conditions, balancing his degree apprenticeship and of course the challenges that COVID-19 brought.

“Mohamed is passionate about supporting customers with hearing impairments to ensure that he can provide an inclusive service to all. As a result of this, as part of his degree apprenticeship, he undertook a project which had a significant impact on how the business ensures they have an inclusive system in place for all its customers.”

Mohamed graduates today with a degree in Professional Practice Business-to-Business Sales and a job at Allego, the largest charging point operator in Europe providing fully-funded, ultra-fast electric vehicle charging hubs in UK and Ireland, which also supports providing reasonable adjustments to drivers with disabilities.

The BSc (Hons) Professional Practice in Business-to-Business Sales allows apprentices to combine work-based learning opportunities with academic knowledge gained through formal workshops and projects relevant to the organisation where they work. Read more on the Leeds Trinity University website.