Barriers to taking on construction apprentices

Speakers:

Ben Brewins (Owner, General Electrical)

Rt Hon Sir Greg Knight (MP for East Yorkshire)

Ian Billyard (Principal, Leeds College of Building)

Ben Trelogan-Dunn (Previous Apprentice)

David Jackson (Founder & Chairman, Hudson Contract)

Video Transcript 

Ben Brewins - Young people should consider a career in the construction industry because there's a real shortage at the moment. There isn’t many government schemes or you have been priced out the market because apprentices are a lot more expensive now than used to be than when I did my apprenticeship.  So you tend to think twice about taking an apprentice on - whether it's cost effective are not.

Sir Greg Knight - The construction industry in the UK is very important because we have a growing and thriving economy and a growing economy really creates a demand for construction. So we need to see a healthy and thriving construction industry to meet the demands of the economy.

Ian Billyard - The really key part about apprenticeships is about getting new entrants into the industry.

Ben Trelohan-Dunn - I had to go round all the wholesalers and just put an advert out there for myself on a sheet of paper saying that I'm looking for a job. With it being a new business they couldn’t really pile any money into apprenticeships which is where the Hudson Contract Scheme came in and obviously getting the sponsorship and really helped.

David Jackson - It's not surprising really that particularly, in a place, a coastal town like Bridlington, like Scarborough, and like the other surrounding towns and villages it's not easy to get an apprenticeship. But the fact that we managed to get 80 apprentices signed up in the last five years shows that if the scheme is straightforward enough, the scheme of sponsorship, then there are people - employers from sole traders, partnerships and small businesses who will, given the minimal amount of paperwork that's involved, and the enthusiasm of the would-be apprentice and a little bit of sponsorships and the opportunity is then created.

Sir Greg Knight - Red tape and paper work can be deadly to a small business because it’s an overhead you have to have someone to deal with it and so a scheme like Hudson Contract scheme is very important in cutting red tape and allowing people to get on with the job that they're there to do. So I say three cheers to Hudson Contract for giving priority to local apprentices here in Bridlington and the surrounding East Riding