A WALTHAMSTOW teenager has won an award after impressing City bosses during a summer work experience programme.

Stephanie Hands, 18, of Higham Hill, scooped the Highly Commended Trainee of the Year accolodae at the City of London Business Traineeship Awards this week.

Stephanie competed against hundreds of other youngsters to win a place on the scheme, a paid internship programme for state school pupils.

Stephanie, a former student of Our Lady’s Convent High School in Hackney, spent this summer learning about the legal profession at UBS.

A spokeswoman for the award said: "She was nominated by her employers who were thoroughly impressed by her positive attitude, innate business acumen and unrelenting commitment to her role."

Lord Mayor of the City of London Michael Bear, who presented her award, added: “It is both exciting and encouraging to see the emergence of the next generation of businesses leaders and to think of what young people like Stephanie could bring to the Square Mile with their obvious talent.”

Stephanie said: “I absolutely loved my traineeship and really appreciated being thrown in from the start. In my first week I was helping to co-ordinate a volunteering event for a local school and soon afterwards attended a high profile event promoting corporate affairs.

"Before my traineeship, I didn’t even realise that a bank would have a community affairs department but now this is a career path I am really considering.”

Click here to follow the Waltham Forest Guardian on Twitter