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Apprenticeship opportunities increase with Bramall Construction

Apprenticeship opportunities increase with Bramall Construction

Bramall Construction is continuing to invest in fresh talent and hire new apprentices in a bid to continue its strong performance during National Apprenticeship Week (23-27 February 2009).

The company has invested more than £360,000 on developing the skills of apprentices and trainees in the last year, building on its range of award winning programmes. Currently, around 120 apprentices are on the books, working across major housing and regeneration schemes in Yorkshire, the East Midlands and the North West.

In Manchester, eight apprentices will be hired within the coming weeks, with four scheduled to work for City South Housing Trust and four for Southway Housing Trust in trades which include joinery, tiling and plumbing. This news follows the recent recruitment of four full time apprentices at City West Housing Trust in Salford, which is delivering a £200 million improvement programme over the next five years.

The company has also invested more than £50,000 in the launch of its new Dedicated to your Future programme, which has provided tailored construction skills training to management staff.

So far, 41 apprentices have achieved NVQ's with Bramall North West since May last year. And as many as 75 per cent of staff working for Bramall Construction North West have been issued with a recognised NVQ qualification and a CSCS competence card.

The news of job creation coincides with National Apprenticeship Week, which aims to celebrate and encourage apprenticeships across all sectors while championing the benefits that apprenticeships can bring.

Daren O'Regan, a Labour Manager for Bramall Construction, said: "As a company, we fully appreciate the enormous benefits that apprenticeship schemes can bring and wherever possible we seek to create new job opportunities for talented individuals.

"It is fantastic that we are in a position to offer so many new positions, particularly in the current economic climate, and we have always recognised the value of taking on hard working and ambitious apprentices who put themselves out for the company."

He continued: "Bramall Construction is dedicated to creating new training opportunities and whenever we work with partner organisations such as councils or sub-contractors we promise to open doors to new training opportunities."

The Government has pledged to increase the number of apprentices across all sectors in England to 400,000 by 2020, and an additional £1 billion investment has been earmarked for national apprenticeship schemes.

Tom Ennis, a Trainee Window Fitter from Salford, is one of four graduates looking forward to a future with Bramall Construction after being hired to work for City West Housing Trust.

He said: "My future now looks positive and rewarding and I found the training course really useful in preparation for my new job with Bramall construction.

"It's great to have both secure employment for the present and trade skills for the rest of my life."

Steve Kazar, a 40-year-old apprentice plasterer, has been working for Bramall in Sheffield for two years and was recently helped to gain NVQ Level 2 and 3 qualifications in the trade.

He said: "Bramall gave me a chance, and have been terrific with the support they have offered me. I simply wanted a chance to prove what I could do and since being offered that by Bramall I haven't looked back. You didn't have the support that they have offered me when you left school 20 years ago.