Member Article

Walter Thompson apprentices have careers to build on

TWO apprentices at a leading regional construction company have won through to the national finals of the largest multi-trade competition in the country.

James Anderson and Jonathan Bernhardt both came first in their respective categories at the prestigious Regional Skill Build Competition which was held recently at Darlington College. The pair, both 21, are in their final year of three-year apprenticeships with Northallerton-based Walter Thompson Ltd.

SkillBuild has been running for more than 45 years and sees the best in construction talent compete against each other to be crowned the SkillBuild winner in their chosen trade. The competition comprises of regional heats from April to June each year, and James and Jonathan will progress to the national final held in Birmingham in November.

James, from Middleton St George, won the senior bricklaying category while Jonathan, who lives in Northallerton, topped the senior carpentry competition.

Paul Hammerton, Managing Director of family-owned Walter Thompson, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled for James and Jonathan, it’s a fantastic achievement. They’re both great, hardworking lads and their success in the competition shows how well their apprenticeships are going.

“Their success is a feather in the cap for Walter Thompson – it shows how well we train people here.

“Our apprenticeship programme has been operating for more than 50 years and many of our former apprentices have gone on to progress to management positions within the company

“Our scheme integrates what we believe to be the key aspects to a successful apprenticeship programme; education, the work environment and personal development. It works well for us and the students. We train our apprentices the way we want, and they get to work for a well-run, well-respected, ambitious company.”

The company takes up to four apprentices every year and has close working relationships with local colleges.

Jonathan, a former Richmond High School pupil, said the SkillBuild competition had involved making a roof in a five-and-a-half-hour timeframe.

The task given to James, who went to school in Hurworth, Darlington, was to create a brickwork model from a set of drawings: “It was a challenge, but I thought I’d done well,” he said.

James went on to praise the support he’d had from Walter Thompson: “It’s a very helpful team and I’ve learned so much,” he said. Both apprentices were looking forward to taking part in the national final.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Walter Thompson .