8th August 2016 | Hudson Contract
As part of Hudson Contract’s 20th anniversary celebrations we expanded our current Apprenticeship Sponsorship scheme, inviting construction firms across the country to make out a case for first-year financial support that would help them take on an apprentice.
We are now delighted to announce the two winners!
H & L Construction Solutions, on-site carpentry firm, Buckinghamshire
H&L’s new apprentice, Joe Lafbery, 21, will start his apprenticeship at Oaklands College, St Albans in September.
“Joe’s one of the first apprentices we have ever taken on,” says H&L’s Emma Hunt. “We’re a young company, so fully financing the course, with day release, would have been tough. We’d lined up two lads who wanted to do the course and were talking to them about perhaps funding part of their own training whilst gaining on-site experience with us, but we all appreciate what a struggle it is for these youngsters to start out in life without having to do that. Joe had already shown a lot of initiative, buying his own tools, working hard, and proactively improving himself and his skills whilst learning from our experienced guys on site. And he’s been trying to secure a college place on an oversubscribed course for the past couple of years. So we are thrilled to see his efforts being rewarded by being chosen as a recipient of the Hudson Contract sponsorship.”
Joe adds: “What a brilliant opportunity and thank you so much. I still can’t believe it! As well as the tools, I’ve spent a lot of my earnings on a van, so putting aside money for college has been a struggle. The sponsorship lifts a huge weight off my shoulders. It also means I can buy more tools and do even better at work.”
Matthews & Leigh, civil engineers, Lancashire
Eighteen-year-old Jordan Goulding, Matthews & Leigh’s new apprentice, is about to begin a Level 2 Apprenticeship in Construction Operation at Preston College.
Managing Directors Ian and Andrew Leigh say: “Our apprentices help ensure the core – and future – of our workforce have the skills and training they need to be productive, produce quality work and fully understand the industry’s health and safety requirements. All of which makes our business competitive. Longer-term, we want our own apprentices to step up and become the next generation of supervisors and managers.”
Jordan adds: “Thank you so much, Hudson Contract! This is a great opportunity for me, and I intend to make the most of it.”
We’ll be following Jordan and Joe’s progress in the months ahead in our monthly newsletters and in the News & Resources section of our website.