Department for Education Announces Teesside contractor among Top 50 employers for 2022
North East construction group Applebridge Family are delighted to announce that Applebridge Construction Ltd has been named among the best apprenticeships employers in the country by the Department for Education.
The Top 50 SME Apprenticeship Employers 2022 is the new national league table that recognises England’s leading small and medium-sized apprenticeship employers for their commitment to employing apprentices, their creation and diversity of their new apprentices, and the progression of their apprentices onto further apprenticeships and employment.
In the latest annual rankings, developed by the Department for Education, in partnership with High Fliers Research, positioned Applebridge Construction Ltd at position four, with the construction industry having no fewer than 15 of the Top 50 slots, indicating an increased desire to fill the skills gap in the sector.
Applebridge Academy Manager Greg Chapman said: “The goal of the Applebridge Academy is to work across the family of businesses to recruit, educate and support the development of new and existing staff members with the aim to provide a facility and support structure to recruit the next generation of Applebridge.”
Group operations director Andy Ray added: “The Applebridge Family invests heavily in apprenticeships across the group and we would like to thank our very own Applebridge Academy for supporting the development of new and existing staff, our college, training providers, and university partners who we work alongside on achieving such a great recognition.”
As a group of eight construction companies, the Applebridge Family provides a range of construction disciplines within the residential, commercial and multi-utility sectors.
Through the Applebridge Academy, new starters are provided with training opportunities allow those starting out in the industry a chance to earn career-developing apprenticeships, while existing staff can upskill through a range of qualifications that are delivered in partnership with 16 colleges across the North East and Yorkshire.
Elliemae Temby is an apprentice bricklayer at Applebridge who is taking on a Bricklaying Level 2 course at Bishop Auckland College. She hopes she can inspire more women to join the construction industry.
She said: “I saw an advertisement regarding a traineeship programme Applebridge were running. I then followed this up with the apprenticeship position. It’s great being a female in construction. Everyone treats me the same as anyone else. Just because I’m a female doesn’t mean I can’t become a great bricklayer.
“We need more women in construction and an apprenticeship offers a great route into our sector. I really enjoy working on site and learning new skills from colleagues on the practical side, while getting the best of the theory when I attend my lessons. It really is a best of both situation, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.”
In its reveal of the most outstanding apprenticeship employers, the public sector featured heavily, with the Top 5 Apprenticeship Employers for 2022 revealed as the British Army, Royal Navy, BT, Royal Air Force and the Department for Work and Pensions.
