David Penk – Penk Insurance
Name: David Penk
Role: Managing Director
Company: Penk Insurance
Since he established Penk Insurance in Chesterfield in 1989.
David Penk said: “An Apprenticeship certainly benefited me, it was much more suited to my learning style and has allowed me to be where I am today. Employers need to embrace the fact that apprentices can be developed into a vital member of the team at a business rather than just be used as short term cheap labour.”
The former Netherthorpe Grammar pupil began his apprenticeship in 1978 as part of the Youth Opportunities Programme (YOP). He joined an insurance broker earning a princely sum of £23 a week. He remained there for 10 years before moving to work for an estate agency based in Staveley which also had an insurance broker arm attached the business. Within months avid found himself facing redundancy as the business was put up for sale.
Aged 28 and with a wife and child on the way, David made the decision to purchase the business. Over the course of a week end David raised £10,000 and bought the business. He immediately shut down the estate agency side of the business choosing instead to focus on the insurance side. Today Penk Insurance, based on Chatsworth Road in Chesterfield, has grown and developed into one of the leading insurance brokers in the area employing 11 people.
He added: “The hands on experience gained through my apprenticeship has helped me and taught me things that school never could. School helped me identify what I was good at and I took that and applied it to career where I was able to develop my skills in a real environment from a young age. Those early skills stay with you forever and give you a massive advantage when doing things like applying for a job or running your own business.”
