London-based Avondale Construction has developed a new in-house training centre and training programme designed to recruit and train young unemployed NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) and get them working on its sites.
Delivered in partnership with Learning and Skills Solutions, the three-week intensive programme delivers training on Health and Safety, Functional Skills, Traffic Marshalling, Fire Marshalling, CSCS and Company Expectations.
On completion, candidates are offered full-time employment with Avondale Construction working on its projects across London.
Throughout the training, candidates are mentored by Avondale staff to ensure they are supported through the programme and to instill the organisation’s key values, vision and mission. The mentoring continues on site with visits each week to ensure they are progressing in their roles.
To find candidates for the course, Avondale reached out to charities, social enterprises and support agencies across London to attract young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and offer them a chance of a successful career in construction site logistics.
The course was first launched in September 2016 and took on and trained 18 young people with 10 subsequently becoming employed in site logistics roles.
The Camden-based company worked with more than 50 pan-London charities, social enterprises and support agencies.
Nick Curran, managing director of Avondale Construction, said: “We are passionate about attracting new people into our business to enable us to continue to grow and develop as a company.
“In order to engage with young people and develop the next generation of construction workers we need to be more active and hands on as an industry.
“Developing our own training academy and training programme has allowed us to reach out to an untapped talent pool of young people and offer them a unique opportunity while giving them the skills they need to be successful in our business.
“I’m delighted to see the new recruits complete their training and to see them out on our sites representing Avondale Construction.”
The company hopes to run the scheme again early next year.
