College and Carillion team up for trade skills programme

South Tyneside College and FTSE 250 construction giant Carillion have joined forces to train the first batch of 80 teenagers in brickwork, carpentry, joinery, painting and decorating and plastering, as part of a skills initiative.

The 15-weel course is being overseen and finance by the College as Carillion’s experts provider instruction to the youngsters.

All who pass can expect to be offered a 17-month apprenticeship with Carillion - which had £4.4 billion of annual revenues in 2012 and employs about 40,000 people across the UK and worldwide – and gain the skills to embark on a well-paid career.

The partnership coincides with worrying figures from the Office of National Statistics which show 406,000 UK construction workers aged 55 and over, or a fifth of its workforce, are likely to retire within 10 years.

The CITB, the training board for the construction industry, has warned this could lead to a skills shortage ‘time bomb’ - and has urged employers to invest quickly in training.

College and Carillion bosses say the timing of their initiative could not be better and matches a steady rise in construction projects across the UK following five years of recession.

Alison Maynard, the college’s principal for professional and vocational education, said: “This is a project that is not just great for the college and Carillion, but also for a sector that plays a significant role in the prosperity of the North East.

“We are training a significant number of young people with the skills they need to find very good employment in an industry that needs a new skilled workforce.

“South Tyneside College is leading the way in vocational training, and this course is a wonderful example of the way a partnership can be established between education and industry that has benefits for them and for young people across our region.”

The course being taken by the mainly 16 to 18-year-olds is a Level 1 in construction trades. It is taking place at Carillion’s training centre in Low Fell, Gateshead.

The Level 2 NVQ apprenticeship, which will feature theory and practical training, including work on building sites, will be run and financed entirely by Carillion.

For those who progress, a Level 3 option is available, helping future foremen or project managers gain relevant qualifications.

Colin Burnicle, Carillion’s training centre manager, said: “The construction sector is once again picking up and the timing of this partnership is very good.

“There’s no doubt that young people are needed within this sector, and this course is an extremely positive way to get many to enter into careers within construction.

“They are doing well so far and are enjoying what they are doing and learning fast. We want to transfer as many of them as we can on to apprenticeships, and I am very confident that a high percentage of them will do just that.

“Because of our location, we are able to attract young people from both South Tyneside and other parts of the North East.”

William Burton, the CITB’s interim chief executive, warned of a ’time bomb and said not taking action to encourage youngster to join the industry, and investing in the training to up-skill the existing workforce, “is no longer an option”.

He added: “The construction sector is essential for local and national economic growth and to avoid the similar skills crisis that affected the industry in the early 1990’s, we urge employers to act now.”

Places remain available for a 15-week college and Carillion-run bricklaying course, beginning in November.

More information is available by calling Carillion on 469 9857 or visitingwww.carillionapprenticeships.com.