14 March 2016

Costain sites around the country will be opening their gates to the next generation of potential staff from today as National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) gets underway.

“We have projects across the UK and we’re opening them up and getting young people in to have a look at the construction and engineering work environment,” said Apprenticeship Manager Caroline Towner.

“The projects and Maidenhead HQ will be showcasing what our apprentices do and the diversity of careers available within the industry. It’s not all about muddy boots and hard hats; there are careers such as finance, procurement, planning and mechanical & electrical available.”

A key theme for National Apprenticeship Week 2016 is ‘An apprenticeship can take you anywhere’, with a particular focus on higher skills to show how young people, entrepreneurs and businesses can rise to the top through traineeships and apprenticeships.

According to the Government’s Skills Funding Agency, apprenticeship participation in the UK now stands at a record level, with 871,800 funded apprentices in the 2014-15 academic year.

It adds that 19% of advanced apprentices progress to higher education and that almost nine out of every 10 apprenticeship employers hoping to achieve business benefits say that apprenticeships deliver: 89% report that it has helped their business improve the quality of their product or service.

Costain, which currently has 108 apprentices on its books, will be welcoming groups from the Prince’s Trust charity and the local community to London Bridge Station for two days of workshops as part of the week’s activities.

Other activities will include students from Sheffield College shadowing apprentices on the M1 Smart Motorways project and students attending workshops in activities such as carpentry and bricklaying at London Bridge Station.

NAW is “a chance for us to shout from the rooftops what we do with our apprentices”, said Caroline. “We’ll be using our existing apprentices to talk to the visitors to the sites, showcase the marvellous work they do and show the impact they are making in their working environments. There will also be Q&A sessions with our apprentices about their roles.”

Caroline hopes that the week’s events will be timely: “Our vacancies for apprenticeships get posted in April and we’re hoping to attract more people to apply. If youngsters have just been around one of our sites as part of National Apprenticeship Week, it may encourage them to apply.”

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