An apprenticeship is the ‘most solid start’ for an entrepreneur

Serving an apprenticeship provides “the most solid of starts for a career as an entrepreneur”, our founder told an event to celebrate the achievements of new recruits to the construction industry.

David Jackson started his career as a 17-year-old apprentice draughtsman and is now chairman of one of Britain’s biggest privately-owned companies. We launched the Hudson Contract sponsorship scheme to create meaningful opportunities for young people to learn trade skills in our seaside hometown of Bridlington and the surrounding area. As a result, more than 225 young people have signed up as construction apprentices since 2011.

We hosted the celebratory event at Bridlington Spa with apprentices past and present, local employers, headteachers and civic leaders including the Mayor of Bridlington and the Lord-Lieutenant of East Yorkshire, the King’s representative in the county.

The Yorkshire Post newspaper sent a reporter to cover the event and later published a story in print and online, headlined ‘Bridlington-based Hudson Contract helps over 225 apprentices match with employers’.

Louie Murray, an apprentice joiner at G Colman Joinery, told the audience how his experience has given him the inspiration to start his own business. Tom Benninger, an apprentice electrician at Martin & Gerard Electrical Contractors, said he has gained the confidence to go out and do what he wants in the industry. Harrison Walker, an apprentice bricklayer at Springvale Homes, added that he spent the first year sweeping up on building sites but is now “on the trowel and smashing it”.

David Jackson told them: “You get an apprenticeship, you gain some experience and you start working as a fully qualified tradesperson and you just don’t know where a career can take you. It’s about being enthusiastic, committed and having your eyes wide open to the possibilities of where you might go.”

The Lord-Lieutenant, James Dick OBE, described our scheme for apprentices as “corporate social responsibility in action” and said “there is nothing better than giving a young person a really good start”. He added: “I think there are some entrepreneurs of the future here… They have really got themselves a skill and they are clearly motivated to take that as far as they can… At a time when there is a massive skills shortage, you are not only helping them, you are helping the industry.”

Ian Anfield, managing director of Hudson Contract, and longstanding friend and client Tom Hart, the owner of Springvale Homes, told the audience how they developed successful careers in construction after starting out as apprentices. Mr Anfield said there has been “massive progress” in training provision for apprentices in Bridlington in recent years.

The sponsorship scheme works as follows: we give a card to a teenager to present to a potential employer, stating that Hudson Contract will pay £50 per week for the first year of training. The only requirement is for the local college to confirm the apprentice’s ongoing attendance.