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Apprenticeship levy unlocks business expansion for CBC
Nicky Roger Community editor
Lewis (left) and Paul Bramwell
Chartered building consultancy Bramwell Consulting is reaping the benefits of taking on an apprentice.
In 2022, founder and managing director Paul Bramwell began exploring the different options to appoint new employees to expand the company’s project controls and dispute resolution practice.
The consultancy decided to recruit an apprentice from a non-cognate route, with funding from the apprenticeship levy. The allowance provides employers with around 95% of the tuition fees costs towards their preferred course – which for Bramwell was an apprenticeship in digital and technology solutions.
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“We took the plunge in summer 2022, and we are now well into the first year of our two-year apprenticeship programme with the University of Newcastle,” said Bramwell. “We meet with the university on a regular basis.”
He added: “We have found the balance between in-person lectures combined with personal study to be a successful blend of educational training. This is complemented by in-house project-specific activities where we implement the skills gained on the course to develop the expansion of our business services.
“Our apprentice has assisted in the organic growth of our business and we have since added a further senior appointment. Without the UK government apprenticeship levy funding, we would have been more cautious, given the investment required from our practice.”
The arrangement is also working for the firm’s apprentice, Lewis Bramwell. He said: “The appointment with Bramwell Consulting has provided me with the opportunity to apply my mathematical and computational knowledge to implement new systems to the business.”
The January/February 2026 issue of Construction Management magazine is now available to read in digital format.
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