Skills shortage addressed by the Seddon Group

Seddon Group has announced its annual apprentice intake after record numbers apply for apprentice scheme.

The scheme saw a record 700 hopeful young people apply for the group's apprentice scheme, from which 58 have been chosen to join the company.

All will receive training in skills such as bricklaying, painting, plumbing and joinery.

The figure brings the overall number of apprentices working for the Seddon Group to 226.

All receive technical and vocational training and are encouraged to develop essential job skills that cannot be taught in the class room.

And as the Group announces its largest ever annual intake, the issue of skills shortages in the industry is once again being raised as a serious concern, with a growing problem lying with the number of places available for training.

A recent report by UCATT (Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians) indicated that from 40,000 applicants, only 9000 trainee or apprenticeship places were available in the North West.

To help address this problem, the Seddon Group is looking to create a Shared Apprenticeship Scheme, a programme to make more trainee positions available throughout the region.

The scheme will initially run along an 'M62 Corridor' involving Liverpool, Manchester, Salford and Elevate (East Lancashire Consortium).

Contractors would be asked to give permission to apprentices to work on large contracts to gain vital hands-on experience, whilst freeing them of the responsibility of direct employment and training.

The new scheme would employ a dedicated Training Manager to follow the progress at college and on site.

Rod Sellers, Group chairman, comments: "Like so many traditional industries, construction is starting to suffer from a skills shortage".

"This is something we are addressing by providing training opportunities for young people as well as a structured support network, and this Shared Apprentice Scheme would undoubtedly be of great value to not only the youngsters taking part, but also to the industry as a whole.

"We had a record number of applicants this year, which shows there are young people out there who want to enter the industry".

"We are looking forward to seeing our latest group of apprentices develop and we wish them the best of luck.

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