A FORMER YTS trainee, who left school at 16, has become the first female managing director at water cooler and dehumidifer maker Ebac.

Pamela Gillespie, from Bishop Auckland, has spent 17 years with company, gaining experience in every department of the St Helen Auckland factory.

She has been appointed managing director of Ebac (consumer products division) following a successful seven-year stint as manufacturing director.

Mrs Gillespie will be responsible for overseeing the manufacturing, sales and engineering of all the company's water coolers and de-humidifiers.

The consumer products division has an annual turnover of £30m and exports its products to more than 20 countries.

Mrs Gillespie, 35, is the daughter of John Elliot, who founded the company in 1972. Since then it has grown into a multi-million pound business attracting 50pc of its orders from overseas. It is also market leader in Europe.

The 450 staff work under one roof, designing, selling and manufacturing some 250,000 products a year.

"I have worked for Ebac for many years and, although I have always striven for success, I was pleasantly surprised to have become managing director by the age of 35," said Mrs Gillespie.

"Manufacturing is historically a male dominated industry, a fact which makes me even more excited for the challenges ahead.

"My story is testament to the fact that qualifications are not the single route to success. I left school at 16, as I wanted to enter full-time employment and pave a successful career for myself. I started at the bottom and spent many years learning about business and manufacturing processes at the 'coal face'.

"I attribute my steady rise to success to working for a forward- thinking company, which encourages personal development at all levels.

"I'm not sure if being the founder's daughter has helped me or not. On the positive side, I've been immersed in Ebac seven days a week for as long as I can remember; on the negative side it certainly adds to the pressure."

John Elliott, chairman of Ebac said: "Pamela's success, like most successes, is down to determination and never contemplating failure, even when things go wrong.

"Pamela's track record and contribution to the company made her an obvious choice.

"This is a new position which will allow me to focus more on business development issues with Pamela taking care of the businesses operational aspects."