Member Article

Persimmon builds partnership with construction college

One of the country’s leading housebuilders has joined forces with a Cheshire college and taken on six young brickwork students.

Persimmon Homes North West is laying the foundations of an ongoing partnership with Warrington Collegiate, and after guaranteeing three students full time employment, has upped that number to six.

And this week the students swapped college life for full time employment on two of Persimmon’s new housing developments.

Mark Cook, Regional Managing Director of Persimmon Homes North West, visited the college a number of times to see this year’s crop of 10 students, and was so impressed with the quality and attitude of the students that he doubled the number of places up for grabs.

Mark said: “I was really impressed with not only the quality of tuition at the college, but the calibre of the students themselves.

“As a business, we are committed to investing in the future, and this is only the start of our relationship with Warrington.

“We are delighted to have these young men on board at two of our developments, The Willows and Vulcan Park in Newton-le-Willows, and hope it is the start of successful careers for all of them.”

Andy Atkins, curriculum leader and brickwork tutor at Warrington, said: “We really appreciate everything Persimmon is doing for both the students and us as a college, it is a really positive partnership.

“I’m confident that these six students will provide Persimmon with some top quality young brickies who will be a real asset to the company.”

The six students - all from Warrington - are Lewis Morris, aged 18, Robbie Doran, 19, Jay Smith, 19, Hassan Amin, 19, Nathan White, 19, and Daniel Clare, 19.

Robbie said: “We attended an induction at Persimmon’s head office last week and were given a really inspiring talk by the MD Mark Cook.

“This is such a great chance for us to work hard, listen and learn and have a great career, and we are really grateful to Persimmon for the opportunity.”

As part of the sponsorship, Persimmon is promoting the construction industry around the college, offering a practical insight into what it’s like to work for one of the country’s leading housebuilders. The building firm recently donated 14 packs of bricks for an internal competition.

Andy added: “A huge thank you to Mark Cook and Persimmon Homes for investing in our students and donating bricks - a gesture unseen in the college’s history. This level of support is exactly what young students need to thrive in an industry suffering from a lack of skilled labour and we are thrilled to have gained such a great partner in equipping the next generation with the skills needed in the construction industry.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Taylor .