Forster Roofing has welcomed a further six apprentices to its Skills Academy in Brechin, Scotland, contributing to a total of 12 modern apprentices through the newly built academy that launched in May 2015.
Joined by Margo Williamson, strategic director at Angus Council, the company welcomed the apprentices into their first year of the newly created Modern Apprenticeship (NVQ) qualification in roofing, designed specifically for new-build housing.
Faced with a reducing level of talent in the industry, Forster Roofing took matters into its own hands and launched its own in-house Skills Academy. With fears within the construction industry that companies will not be able to recruit the highly skilled workers they require, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has reported that a skills shortage is “threatening to starve economic growth.” Pioneered by Maureen Douglas, group HR director, the two-year integrated training programme combines on-the-job structured learning with contextualised off-site training at Forster’s purpose-built training centre.
Maureen Douglas, who is also a board member of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) said: “To address the shortage of suitably skilled trades, we created the specialist modern apprenticeship with other roofing contractors supported by the National Federation of Roofing Contractors, CITB and South Lanarkshire College. We deliver the specialist apprenticeship from our own Skills Academy in two-week residential blocks. This allows our full-time trainer to embed the Forster standards of workmanship and enable the apprentices to complete their off-site training together. The programme has already been a resounding success and is being developed further to enable the up-skilling and re-skilling of experienced workers.”
Margo Williamson, who oversees ‘schools and learning’ at Angus Council, met with the six new apprentices – who are currently working at Forster’s Brechin based office – with trainer Lindsay Kemp, who has been roofing Scottish homes for over 25 years.
The Angus Council strategic director said: “Angus is home to so many ambitious young people and I was delighted to meet some of these young people at the skills academy who told me how eager they are to learn new skills that will help them with their future careers. I’d like to wish them good luck and I look forward to hearing more from the group as they progress through their apprenticeship and beyond.
“We are committed to supporting these ambitions and recently we launched the Angus Shared Apprenticeship Programme which aims to address the challenges faced by the construction sector. Our new approach to learning and training for our young people in Angus aims to assist economic activity, improve skill levels, increase job satisfaction and employment.”
New apprentice, Ryan Beaton, from Glenrothes said: “I feel incredibly lucky to be on the Forster programme as I know a lot of young people are looking for training and skills to secure work. I’ve not seen a level of training like this anywhere else, as the apprenticeship offers both on-site work and training in a workshop with a one-to-one mentor. You get time to ask questions and work to your own pace as you learn, then put your new skills to practice on-site.”
By the end of 2016 Forster Roofing Skills Academy aims to have taken on 24 apprentices, to ensure that the business continues to develop talent with the right skills and attitudes for the construction industry.
