Four young people are being given the chance to make their mark in the housing industry thanks to the Press and Journal’s Apprentice 100 campaign.
The Bancon Group has thrown its weight behind our initiative and pledged to create four apprenticeships to help us achieve our aim of creating new jobs for young people across Scotland.
The new recruits will join a host of other apprenticeships currently going through training including 26-year-old plumber Lisa Hamilton from Stonehaven. She joined Bancon in July after working as an administrator at Action for Children in Aberdeen and deciding to change her career path.
She said: “I decided I wanted a trade because a tradesperson with their specific skill set will always be required so I’ll hopefully never have to worry about being unemployed again.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my apprenticeship so far and I have definitely made the right career choice, I work with a great team of people and I really enjoy my work. The benefits include meeting new people, seeing more of the local area and learning new things every day.”
Scott Allardyce is the managing director for Leys Business Services, which provides the support services for the Bancon Group of companies including the recruitment and monitoring of apprentices and trainees.
Having begun his own career as an apprentice joiner he knows all too well the importance of apprenticeships to both the young person and the employer.
He said: “Having a strong apprentice training programme is vital to the future of any company and the industry as a whole. The importance of finding talented young individuals and developing their skills can’t be underestimated. An apprenticeship programme helps us ensure essential knowledge and skills are passed on to the next generation.
“Increasing the number of apprentices in our organisation has definitely had a positive impact on the way we work, and given lots of young people the chance to take their first steps in what we hope will be long and successful careers.
“Bancon, along with the whole of the construction industry, need to do more to attract new talent through projecting a more positive image of the industry in addition to overturning outdated perceptions that the industry can only offer low-skilled, low paid manual work, which is far from the modern reality.”
He said an apprenticeship offers a practical alternative to university and a fast route into a career with good prospects.
Bancon has a proud record of recruiting apprentices and in addition to the traditional craft apprenticeships it also provides Modern Apprenticeships for design technicians and IT staff.
“All of our apprentices are trained to the highest standards, which allows the trainee to take new methods and procedures from the college classroom into a real life working situation, which not only benefits Bancon – it benefits the existing workforce,” Scott added.
“Apprenticeships are suitable for all ages and we currently have a mixture of school leavers and adults undergoing formal Modern Apprenticeships. Existing employees can also be placed on an apprenticeship programme allowing operatives for example, to ‘up-skill’ which is a win-win situation for company and employee.