Apprentice Rob gets good grounding for success

Essex teenager, who has always wanted to work in the construction industry, is now studying at prestigious CITB National Construction College thanks to the support of his employer.

Rob Suttonwood (19) who began working for Braintree-based Tamdown Group, one of the UK's leading civil engineering firms, in September last year, has been accepted on a 33 week apprenticeship programme by the Kings Lynn-based college.

He is the first apprentice groundworker to be sponsored by Tamdown which remediates brownfield sites and installs groundworks, infrastructure and concrete frames on some of the country's largest construction sites.

Rob who lives in Colchester and began his course last Tuesday (17 April), said: "I am so grateful to Tamdown for supporting me and really looking forward to the course".

"I have wanted to work in construction since I left school so I was really pleased when I joined Tamdown as the company has such a good reputation in the industry".

"The fact they have now agreed to sponsor my training is fantastic".

Tamdown Head of Safety and Training Paul Dyster said: "We are delighted to be supporting Rob and helping him work towards a successful future career in construction".

"As a company we are very mindful of the importance of ensuring our staff have the necessary skills they need".

"We have secured half a million pounds worth of funding for training this year from the Government's Train to Gain scheme and currently have around 300 members of staff studying for NVQ Level 2 qualifications, which is a great achievement".

Tamdown's Managing Director Mike Morris said: "We operate in residential, industrial and commercial sectors, employ nearly 600 people and have a turnover of more than GBP60 million".

"As a company we are very aware of how important training and development is to our success, and do everything we can to support our staff increase their skills and develop their full potential.".

Back to top