Tuesday 5th July 2011 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) is helping to deliver a scheme designed to increase the number of apprenticeships in the construction industry. Thanks to funding from the FMB, eleven construction students from City College Plymouth are spending the summer months gaining valuable pre-apprenticeship experience with local employers.
Last year the FMB committed £10,400 to the Pathway to Construction scheme, which provides full-time college students approaching the end of their first year on a construction-based course with a work experience placement. Employers that offer the placements are given funding for up to 16 weeks, and get the opportunity to test the student’s suitability for a fully employed apprenticeship. This makes the Pathway to Construction scheme incredibly valuable to employers as well as those seeking a successful career in the industry.
Mike Smith, Managing Director of Plymouth firm Mainly Kitchens and member of the FMB, has taken on Kieran Wheeler, a young carpenter and joiner from the college. Mike said:
“The business has really benefitted from having Kieran on board. He has shown genuine commitment to the work. These are very challenging times for the construction industry and taking on an apprentice is a big commitment to make, especially for smaller firms. Therefore, Pathway to Construction is a good way to test if you are suited to working with one another. The FMB was entirely right to support this initiative.”
City College Plymouth helped indentify the Pathway to Construction students at the beginning of the academic year. Amongst the students involved, there are bricklayers, carpenters, plasterers and painters.
Adrian Heath, Head of Construction at City College Plymouth, said: "We are incredibly grateful to the Pathway to Construction scheme for involving College students in community based activity - which gives our students a real sense of belonging and achievement. For students to work alongside industry professionals and gain real hands-on practical experience can only benefit the construction industry and the students themselves."
Richard Diment, Director General of the FMB said:
"We know the initial cost of employing an apprentice can be prohibitive, which is why we are pleased to do our part in funding the Pathway to Construction scheme. Employers really benefit from working with a young person who has already started to learn a lot of the necessary skills, and it is great to see that FMB members have built such close links with the local FE College as a result of the scheme."
The Cross-Industry Construction Apprenticeship Task Force (CCATF) worked with the FMB and the college to match the students with employers in the local area. Geoff Lister, Chairman of the CCATF, recently spent the day with the employers and trainees in Plymouth. He said:
"In the current economic climate very few construction employers have the confidence in the immediate future of their business to take on an apprentice. Instead, a large number of young people who want to work in construction start their training at a further education college, but end up leaving the industry or working in the informal economy because they lack the on-site experience needed to achieve an NVQ qualification.”
Lister continued:
“Unless the number of people being trained increases, there will be a major shortage of skills in the industry in future years. Pathway to Construction is a pre-apprenticeship scheme that provides young people with their first step towards employment. I hope most, if not all, of the employers taking part in the scheme in Plymouth will end up offering a full apprenticeship to their work experience trainees."
Keith Watkins, Account Services Manager for CITB-ConstructionSkills, a key player in the Pathway to Construction programme, said:
“It is really important, particularly in the current climate, that businesses continue to invest in young people to ensure that the future skills needs of the construction industry are met. The Pathway to Construction scheme is one way of giving these young people an important step into the industry and it is great to see that the pilot run by the Federation of Master Builders here in Plymouth has been such a success, with so many employers and students feeling the benefits of the scheme.”
