Nick completed his secondary education at James Hargest College before being employed in a number of jobs. In mid 2004 Nick applied for an apprenticeship with Southern Group Training and was offered a placement initially with McMaster Engineering in Winton and more recently with E Type Engineering in Invercargill.

While most apprentices spend their apprenticeship on placement with one host company Southern Group Training has the ability to place an apprentice with another host company if the original host has insufficient ongoing work, or is unable to provide training in all the unit standards required to enable the apprentice to complete his qualification.

Southern Group Training also provides apprentices with an interest free tool loan to enable apprentices to have a basic toolkit of their own from the beginning of their apprenticeship. The apprentice does not have to save up for each tool but has the basics of the required tool kit on hand. This means that the apprentice does not need to borrow other trades people’s tools to complete the tasks at hand. Apprentices are also provided with their own personal protective equipment.