This week is National Apprenticeship Week (5-11 February 2024), a week-long celebration of apprentices and the positive impact they make on businesses and their trades.
Celebrating its 17th year, National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) 2024 hosts a different theme each year to shine a light on the benefits of apprentices, and the theme this week is ‘Skills for Life’.
At The Forshaw Group, we are proud of the work we do in the training and development and supporting of apprentices, not just offering them skills for life, but hopefully roles for life at our company too.
We support and invest a lot of time in our new apprentices. It’s an opportunity to raise the profile of the construction industry to young people and show them how to get involved.
This is possible through our social commitment to youth development and training with the Knowsley Schools Apprenticeship Partnership and our INS-Pire Academy, which is designed to help train young people into skilled trades, including building, restoration and renovation, engineering, decorating and loss adjusting.
Together in collaboration with over five local businesses and 50 nationally, these have been instrumental in providing over 100 apprenticeship roles across Knowsley, including opportunities within plumbing, plastering, painting, joinery, electrician work and administration.
The Forshaw Group is committed to sharing its success and trade skills with the next generation and is therefore helping to bring about positive change and bridge the increasing skills gap found in our industry, and has done so to great success since the previous National Apprenticeships Week in 2023:
January 2023
35 students from All Saints Catholic High School in Kirkby registered an interest in joining our team on apprenticeships. Each student submitted their curriculum vitae (CV) and personal statements, with their predicted grades and interests. The students selected from this first stage of the process were invited to attend The Forshaw Group for interviews and skills testing.
March 2023
On Thursday 30 March 2023 our managing director, Liam Hanlon, attended JJ Smith’s ‘Engineering Your Future’ day. The event was designed to give local school children the chance to learn about different businesses and find out about different work experience and apprenticeship opportunities within the engineering and construction sectors.
Throughout the day, six schools from Liverpool’s city region arrived at one-hour intervals to meet the companies in attendance. The Forshaw Group was not only showcasing its own business but was also promoting the Knowsley School’s Partnership and the INS-Pire Academy, as part of the construction skills sector offering.
June 2023
The Forshaw Group welcomed five fresh-faced new students from All Saints Catholic School in Kirkby for a weeks’ worth of work experience.
July 2023
These students progressed onto our apprenticeship scheme.
October 2023
All five of the boys who enrolled in June completed their three-month probation period, and all are well on the way to developing their apprenticeship skills.
November 2023
We were pleased to welcome a further 10 students from All Saints School in Kirkby for a week’s work experience. Over the course of the week, each of the 10 students had the opportunity to try out a different trade, with different members of The Forshaw Group team. The students tried out the following roles: plastering, joinery, plumbing, ground worker, tiling, and decorating. We hope that this will encourage some of the students to consider joining our apprenticeship scheme later on.
Liam Hanlon, managing director at The Forshaw Group, joined the construction industry in 1984 on a Youth Training Scheme Apprenticeship with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). He remains passionate about supporting young people in skills training and apprenticeships.
“Recognised by the Chartered Institute of Builders (CIOB), the British Damage Management Association (BDMA) and other leading institutes, our apprentice training centre shows a commitment to young people and future generations, to provide the skills required for our business and the industry we serve.
“We have another exciting year for apprenticeships lined up, with another seven students from the Knowsley All Saints apprenticeship partnership starting work experience with us in early February 2024.
“I’d also like to congratulate our long-standing employee Dave Proffit, who started his Painting & Decorating apprenticeship with The Forshaw Group 45 years ago in January. Big congratulations also goes to Zoe Smith who has just completed her first year as a Painter & Decorator apprentice, and Lucy Winter, who has just finished her apprenticeship. Joe Chellew the winner of this year’s ASUC Apprentice of the Year Award. A national award with a £500 cash prize.
“I’m excited to see who else we take on this year and how they progress.”
If you are interested in finding out more about our apprenticeship opportunities, please email liam.hanlon@theforshawgroup.com
