GRAHAM Construction and St John’s Primary in Edinburgh have joined forces to encourage more youngsters to consider a career in construction to consider as part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week.
More than 150 primary five to seven pupils attended a ‘My World of Work’ event, hosted by members of the GRAHAM team. The event involved workshops and activities designed to teach the students about various roles within the industry.
The team comprising an apprentice engineer, a planner, a quantity surveyor and a community benefits advisor provided an overview of their roles.
The new two-storey St John’s Primary is being built on the site of the former Portobello High School in Edinburgh. The £10 million project is due to complete this summer.
Gary Holmes, regional MD at GRAHAM Construction said, “It’s important that we work with our local schools and colleges to highlight the great opportunities that are available within the construction industry and the number of different job roles that are needed throughout a project. Apprenticeships are a vital part of growing our workforce and building a team with great skills and experience.
“Scottish Apprenticeship Week gives us the chance to celebrate the past and existing young people at GRAHAM Construction that continue to develop and work their way through the company, while encouraging apprentices of the future to choose a career within the industry.”
Meanwhile, Cambuslang-headquartered CCG has marked Scottish Apprenticeship Week by getting trade apprentices to discuss their success at the firm.
Declan McAllister (21) and Grant Dolan (20) are part of a 71-strong group of trade apprentices that have embarked on a career path with the construction company. The business offers a range of opportunities including plumbing, bricklaying and joinery trades as well as modern apprentice roles in administration, quantity surveying, health and safety and buying.
Declan is learning to become a bricklayer and is in his final year as a trade apprentice. He said, “I was inspired to take up a trade apprenticeship because of the future career opportunities and because I am earning while I learn the trade. It can be a tough environment on a construction site, particularly with the weather, but after four years, I am confident that a bricklayer trade was a good choice. Bricklayers are in really high demand in Scotland and I am really looking forward to the next stage of my career.”
Grant Dolan is in his second year as a bricklayer. He balances his time at Glasgow Kelvin College and on site based alongside Declan at an affordable housing development in Glasgow’s south side. He said, “I really enjoy the balance between my college work and practical on site experience. Working on site and at college has allowed me to meet a lot of new people and it is always interesting to speak with the more experienced guys on site as they are always available to offer up advice.”
Last year the CCG Group recruited 22 trade apprentices. This year business is committed to at least 15 trade apprentices and 16 management, professional and administration trainees.
CCG chairman Alastair Wylie said, “For CCG, Scottish Apprenticeship Week is something worth celebrating. Our 71 apprentices are a hard-working group of people and are integral to our business. It is an exciting time to be in construction and whilst our industry needs to do more for skills replenishment, CCG has still seen record demand for places – our 2018 intake was launched in February and we had to cease accepting registrations after just three working days due to the volume of applicants.”
