Three former construction trainees, who have risen swiftly through the ranks at Anwyl Homes, have encouraged others to follow in their footsteps during this week's National Apprenticeship Week.

Despite their relatively young ages, Jay Williams and Shane Crawford, both from Wrexham, and Jacob Hird, from Mold, have all recently been promoted to assistant site manager roles. Shane and Jacob have also taken on the job of acting site manager in recent months.

Shane, 23, initially started as a bricklaying apprentice before applying to be a trainee assistant site manager. He now works on Anwyl’s Parc Tirionfa development in Rhuddlan.

“I’ve always been passionate about construction,” he said. “It’s just something that has always interested me. I knew I wanted to go into site management eventually so I’m really pleased that it’s happened so quickly.

“I’ve worked with some great site managers, so my advice for anyone following this career path is ‘ask lots of questions’. And if you know what you want to do, keep working until you get there.”

Anwyl’s apprenticeships combine on-the-job training with day release attendance at college and all apprentices work towards recognised qualifications.

Jacob, 21, is based at The Oaks, in Ellesmere Port. He joined Anwyl in 2017 after hearing about interviews for Anwyl’s training programme while on a building studies course at Coleg Cambria.

He said:

“I’d definitely recommend an apprenticeship. You have the benefit of working on site and earning a decent wage while also going to college. As long as you are motivated to work hard and learn you can progress really quickly. Anwyl provides a lot of support and is willing to give you responsibility when they know you are ready.

Jay, 20, works on site in Audlem, in Cheshire. He added:

As a kid I always knew I wanted a job that was hands on. I had already done a BTEC in Construction while I was at school before I had my interview in 2016 with Anwyl. Since then I’ve gained around 20 new qualifications.

“It’s given me a real ambition to achieve things and follow in my previous manager’s footsteps to win awards. The best thing about the job is providing a good service to our customers. I know how I’d want to feel if I was spending all that money to buy a house so that’s how I want our customers to feel.

“My advice to others starting out in their careers is to be resilient. Don’t let your age be a barrier to achieving things. You can grow the attributes to lead or manage a team and if you want to succeed there’s nothing to stop you.”

Anwyl’s trainee assistant site managers’ course is in partnership with Coleg Cambria.

Karl Jackson, assistant principal for the Institute of Technology, said:

“Coleg Cambria and Anwyl have worked in partnership for many years and we are able to guide young learners on to an apprenticeship and support them with the appropriate qualifications.

“We aim to set a five-year pathway, which is cost-effective and very relevant. This starts at school and spans through to a degree. Shane, Jacob and Jay are great examples of what can be achieved. They all started their journey as apprentices on a BTEC qualification and as their knowledge and responsibilities developed on-site, so did the level of qualification they completed here at college, finishing with a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Construction and an NVQ in Site Supervision.

“It’s important that our next generation see what career opportunities exist within construction. This can range from a design architect through to site manager or environmental officer – the options are vast. It's equally important we develop and maintain our partnership links to ensure the next generation have the opportunities and skills to move into a very exciting future career.”

For more on building your career with Anwyl visit www.anwylgroup.co.uk/careers or to discover where Anwyl is building visit www.anwylhomes.co.uk.