Apprenticeships

National Apprenticeship Week: Assistant site manager praises the apprenticeship scheme as a solid route into the housebuilding industry

- 05 Feb 21

Ahead of National Apprenticeship Week (8th – 14th February), Chris Elliott from Bovis Homes is shining a light on apprenticeships and praising the scheme for establishing his career. The week-long celebration aims to highlight the career path, which has seen a huge increase in employer support over the last decade and combines practical on-the-job training with formal qualifications. Chris, 26, joined the company as a bricklaying apprentice in September 2016, studying one day a week at PGL Training in Exeter to achieve his NVQ 2 and 3. He was quickly noticed after he qualified and was promoted to assistant site manager last December at Bovis Homes’ Cherry Fields development in Bickington. Responsible for assisting the site team, he works alongside Alan, the site manager, to ensure the new homes are delivered to a high quality, on time and on budget. A typical day involves helping run the site, health and safety paperwork, on-site health and safety checks, working with different trades and meeting with customers. Commenting on his apprenticeship and recent promotion, Chris, from Barnstaple, said: “I really enjoyed my apprenticeship and I was so proud to be promoted. Bricklaying gives you a great overview of the site and while it wasn’t my intention to move into site management, after a year it was amazing to see the different opportunities opening up for me and it’s fantastic to have a clear career path.” Managing director, Paul Moran, said: “It is so important to attract good new employees and also to help and inspire them to progress in their chosen career. Chris is a brilliant member of the team and he’s proof that apprenticeships offer a great route into the industry. He fully deserves his promotion: he’s dedicated, organised and his attention to detail is outstanding.” Paul added: “National Apprenticeship Week provides a fantastic opportunity to acknowledge the dedication of the apprentices but also the strong team on site supporting them. It’s wonderful to see the experienced members imparting their knowledge and the trainees flourishing.” Bovis Homes is part of the Vistry Group and the company currently employs 120 apprentices. For more details on the training schemes available, visit www.bovishomes.co.uk and for further information on apprenticeships, visit www.apprenticeships.gov.uk