National award for BAE Systems apprentice An apprentice working at BAE Systems Submarines in Barrow has won a major national award. Adam Houlden, 31, won the Business Apprentice Rising Star category at the Make UK Manufacturing Awards. The information management and technology higher apprentice said: “I’m really pleased I began a career at BAE Systems, I only wish I’d done it sooner. “I’ve worked in a few jobs since leaving school, including a call centre, but I’d had a taste of working in IT and I liked it so when the apprenticeship came up I went for it.