Member Article

Civil engineering hopefuls gain industry insight at recruitment day

Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK opened up the doors to its training site at the former North Wales Hospital in Denbigh to offer up a taste of what individuals could look forward to as an apprentice plant operative.

Attendees heard from Jones Bros employees about life at the family firm, including the variety of schemes the civil engineering contractor is working on.

Potential applicants also had the opportunity to ask questions about the apprenticeship programme, such as about career progression and what it’s like working on a site.

The Ruthin-headquartered contractor is currently seeking to recruit up to 30 new starters as it works on nationally significant projects across the UK covering renewables, highways, coastal defence and waste management projects.

Apprenticeships are open to anyone aged 17 and over with a full driving licence.

Training manager Garmon Hafal believes many of those who attended could be on the cusp of a new career.

He said: “We were so pleased to welcome fresh faces to our purpose-built training site to find out about how we develop apprentices into fully-fledged, fully-qualified plant operatives.

“Our course has an excellent reputation thanks to the results it produces – almost half of those you’ll see operating machinery out on our sites completed an apprenticeship with us.

“A key message on the day was that there’s no such thing as a typical Jones Bros apprentice. We welcome applicants from many different backgrounds, whether they’ve got experience in construction or not.

“We hope to see many of those who visited starting with us here in Denbigh in the new year.”

Established in the 1950s, Jones Bros owns one of the largest plant fleets in the UK and employs approximately 500 people.

The company is currently working on contracts in various sectors including highways, flood and marine defence, waste management and renewable energy around the UK.

The company runs an award-winning apprenticeship scheme, which has produced more than 40 per cent of its current workforce, with many of its senior managers having started out as apprentices or in a trainee role. It has recruited more than 100 apprentices during the past three years.

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