Apprenticeship Programme Launched in Partnership with Inverclyde Council
Hub West Scotland (hWS) is working in partnership with Inverclyde Council (IC) on the Moorfoot Primary School Refurbishment, St Ninian’s Primary School and Greenock Early Years projects.
The community benefits model was set at the beginning of the projects with Inverclyde Council and hWS agreeing the specific local employability and educational outcomes to be delivered as part of the additional value to be achieved through the delivery of the construction projects.
CCG, the Primary Contractor appointed by hWS, has made significant early progress by creating local employment opportunities. Working collaboratively with hWS and The Trust, Inverclyde Council’s employability Service, CCG have recruited six modern apprentices.
All applicants were sourced via The Trust, with many coming through their Youth Employment Initiative or the Future Jobs Inverclyde employability programmes. Young clients engage in a range of pre-vocational and personal development courses or short term employment opportunities across community based construction, site clearance and landscaping projects.
By engaging with The Trust, CCG were able to access local Inverclyde residents, with The Trust providing a stringent and robust candidate screening and assessment process ensuring the best candidates were identified and matched to each opportunity.
Martin Skilling, Liam Gill, Kieran Hendry, Shaun Knox, Lauren McKenna and Robert Cairns were the successful candidates to secure an apprenticeship with CCG across three different trades; Bricklaying, Joinery and Plumbing.
Prior to commencing her plumbing apprenticeship with CCG, Lauren McKenna took park in the Inverclyde Engineering Plus Partnership Pre-Apprenticeship programme. The programme was developed to equip school pupils with core elements of an apprenticeship focussed around engineering while in the classroom. The programme connected education and industry to prepare young people for the workplace, with pupils receiving a mixture of classroom-based learning, college based vocational training and relevant industry work placements with employers as they work towards an industry recognised accreditation.
CCG Chairman and CEO, Alastair Wylie, said: “The CCG Group has a year-on-year commitment to trade apprenticeships and training. Five bricklayers, six plumbers, seven joiners, three electricians and a heating engineer have been positioned across various companies from within CCG Group who will all undertake a 4-year intensive, high-quality programme. This now takes the number of apprentices employed by CCG to 70, representing over 10% of our workforce.
“Skills replenishment is fundamental to the long term success of our industry and we are delighted to partner with Inverclyde Council and hub West Scotland to bring opportunities to the Inverclyde region.”
Lauren, Apprentice Plumber, said: “I am very excited to have started my apprenticeship with CCG. I was attracted to construction because of the skills that you can learn and the variety of projects that you can be involved in. Plumbing is a hands on trade but I am looking forward to the challenges it will present as I take my first steps in my career.”
hWS CEO, Iain Marley said: “We are proud to work with our partners to maximise opportunities for the residents of Inverclyde. The creation of apprenticeship opportunities is fundamental to delivering meaningful community benefits as part of our core service for our public sector partners”
The six apprentices began working with CCG on 14th August.