High five for Persimmon’s Apprentice Award Scheme

Persimmon Homes has launched its Apprentice of the Year award scheme. Now in its fifth year, the contest aims to showcase and celebrate the achievements of the company’s own ever growing number of apprentices and highlight their value in the workplace, a figure which currently stands at 290 across 24 regional offices.

All second and third year Persimmon apprentices are eligible to enter whether they specialise in bricklaying, carpentry or any other core discipline*. The employee to emerge triumphant will be awarded the top prize of £1,000, whilst also being crowned Apprentice of the Year 2007.

Like many Persimmon personnel across the Group, chairman John White began his career as a bricklaying apprentice and is keen to reward those trainees that go the extra mile. He said: “We are keen advocates of on-the-job training and place apprenticeship programmes at the heart of our business, indeed since 2003 when the award scheme launched, we have trained almost 1,700 apprentices.

“As well as providing nationally recognised qualifications and skills, apprenticeships are a fantastic stepping stone to a range of great prospects, in fact we have many personnel within the Group who started their working life as an apprentice and are now enjoying extremely rewarding careers. It takes hard work and a great deal of dedication to succeed and I believe it’s important to recognise that commitment.

“This award scheme shows just how much we value our own apprentices whilst demonstrating that training in housebuilding leads to recognised qualifications, real achievements and rewards.”

Judging involves assessment of the apprentice by both Persimmon personnel and college tutors to give a clear picture of the entrants overall performance and development to date.

Local winners will be announced in July – they then go through the regional heat and winners of that round, who will receive vouchers to the value of £250 to spend on tools, will be announced in August. The national winner will be announced during October to coincide with National Construction Week (8th-12th October 2007).

The Apprentice Awards form part of Persimmon’s continuous programme of activity aimed at encouraging young people into the house building industry. The company has launched a number of initiatives over the past five years under its award-winning ‘Homing in on Opportunity’ programme, aimed primarily at 14-16 year olds. These have included a popular Careers Manual which was praised by The Department of Education, teachers and pupils alike for its clear job descriptions, real life case studies and national curriculum based tasks, careers posters and a Graduate Award scheme.

For details regarding career opportunities with Persimmon Homes, visit Persimmonhomes.com and click on the recruitment link.

For information on the range of homes available across the country, visit Persimmonhomes.com.

*Apprenticeships offered by Persimmon Homes include:

Carpentry
Joinery
Carpentry/Joinery
Bricklaying
Painting
Plastering
Plumbing
Scaffolding
Electrical