Seddon Construction has welcomed 16 new apprentices into its workforce, including a record female intake with five women in its latest cohort.
The contractor placed the successful candidates across the business and supply chain, in an effort to demonstrate its commitment to addressing the skills shortage.
The move increases the company’s apprenticeship numbers to a total of 60 employed across its workforce.
Over the past 23 years, Seddon has recruited more than 460 apprentices (level 2/3 and level 6), with a 97 per cent retention rate.
This year’s intake includes:
- Joinery
- Bricklaying
- Painting
- Decorating
- Plastering
- Multi-skilled
- Electrical
- Plumbing
- Trainee quantity surveyor roles.
The 16 recruited apprenticeships were selected from a competitive pool of over 1,200 applicants.
Seddon also facilitated the placement of a further 12 apprentices within its supply chain partners, bringing the total impact to 28 new apprenticeship opportunities.
Seddon’s recruitment process resulted in almost a third of the successful candidates being women.
This follows the announcement that industry non-profit Women into Construction (WiC) ceased trading after 16 years.
WiC previously partnered with The Home Builders Federation (HBF) to deliver the Women Home Building programme, with its fifth cohort having just launched to attract more women into site management careers.
ONS data shows that women account for 16 per cent of the current construction workforce, with 320,000 women employed in construction in 2023, according to the latest Labour Force Survey.
Meanwhile, forecasts from CIOB state that an extra 251,500 workers will be required to meet UK construction output by 2028.
Nicola Hodkinson, owner of Seddon, said: “As the industry grapples with a critical skills shortage, bringing in apprentices is more crucial than ever to bridge the gap.
“We’re proud our 2024 apprentice cohort has chosen to kickstart their careers at Seddon, where individuality is celebrated.
“I’m especially delighted to see many female applicants this year—a promising sign that women are increasingly making their mark in this industry.”
Olivia Hardy, trainee quantity surveyor, said: “I have really enjoyed my time so far at Seddon, especially the two community days we took part in.
“We volunteered at a local community farm and helped with painting and decorating at a charity hub.
“It was incredibly rewarding and really brought us apprentices together as a team.
I now see first-hand why Seddon puts such a big emphasis on social value, and I’m excited to get involved in more community projects in the future.”
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