Balfour Beatty is showing its support of apprentices this week by celebrating Scottish Apprenticeship Week (Monday 29th February to Friday 4th March 2016). The week, organised by Skills Development Scotland, provides a great platform to highlight the value that apprenticeships bring to the industry within Scotland - approximately 30% of Balfour Beatty’s apprentices are based there.
Balfour Beatty employs 150 new apprentices every year, adding to the 270 it already employs. The company offers a structured training scheme with an array of apprenticeship programmes ranging from intermediate, to advanced, to higher level qualifications for school leavers and post A-level students. Balfour Beatty apprentices also have the option to continue their studies to gain a Foundation or Honours degree.
A member of The 5% Club1 and a supporter of the ‘100 in 100’2 government endorsed campaign, Balfour Beatty recognises the importance of investing in the youth of today, to help mould the infrastructure leaders of tomorrow.
Bethany Welsh, a civil engineering apprentice based in Scotland, is delighted at the level of skills and knowledge she has gained during her time with Balfour Beatty, she has recently been shortlisted for the Engineering category for The Duke of Gloucester’s Young Achievers Scheme 2016, by the Construction Youth Trust. Bethany will find out if she has secured the winners award on Thursday 10th March.
“Balfour Beatty has given me the opportunity to pursue my dream of becoming a chartered civil engineer whilst studying and working at the same time in an industry I have always wanted to work in. Being shortlisted for the Gloucester Young Achievers Scheme shows just how much I have learnt while working at the company.”
Hector MacAulay, Balfour Beatty Managing Director Scotland, said:
"Scottish Apprenticeship Week provides a platform to celebrate the positive impact apprenticeships have on individuals, businesses and the economy. The future of our industry depends on finding and investing in the next generation of engineers, project managers and skilled trades. Through our membership of The 5% Club, we are committed to ensuring that five percent of our workforce is made up of apprentices, graduates or sponsored students by 2018. We aim to maintain the highest quality workforce right here in Scotland by providing exciting and innovative placements for apprentices.”
Throughout Scottish Apprenticeship week, Balfour Beatty is celebrating its apprentices in Scotland with various site visits. Hector MacAulay, Managing Director for Scotland is today meeting with apprentices at the Holyrood Student Accommodation project for the University of Edinburgh to discuss career opportunities in the industry and answer the apprentices questions. The site visit also provides the opportunity for Balfour Beatty apprentices to share their journey and experiences so far, as well as providing an important networking forum for them.
Keen to keep in touch during Scottish Apprentice Week? We’ll be sharing all of our news and events, as well as stories from Apprentices on our website and social media. Follow us on Twitter @balfourbeatty #ScotMAweek16 and LinkedIn to get involved in the conversation.
ENDS
Media enquiries to:
Am Golhar
Balfour Beatty
t: +44 (0)207 963 2150
e: am.golhar@balfourbeatty.com
www.balfourbeatty.com | follow us @balfourbeatty
Notes to editors:
1. Balfour Beatty is a member of ‘The 5% Club’, an industry-led initiative focused on creating momentum behind the recruitment of apprentices and graduates into the workforce. Balfour Beatty is committed to ensuring that at least 5% of its workforce is engaged in a formalised apprenticeship or sponsored or full time education by 2018. www.5percentclub.org.uk
2. Balfour Beatty is a supporter of the ‘100 in 100’ government endorsed campaign and has pledged to take on 150 apprentices in 2016.
Building on the government’s commitment to 3m apprenticeship starts by 2020, the campaign will see MPs across all political parties in England, securing apprenticeship pledges from businesses in their constituencies, with the aim of creating at least 100 new apprenticeships within the next 100 days. https://www.gov.uk/topic/further-education-skills
3. Balfour Beatty (www.balfourbeatty.com) is a leading international infrastructure group. With 36,000 employees, we provide innovative and efficient infrastructure that underpins our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth. We finance, develop, build and maintain complex infrastructure such as transportation, power and utility systems, social and commercial buildings.
Our main geographies are the UK, US, Middle East and South East Asia. Over the last 100 years we have created iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including the London Olympics’ Aquatic Centre, Hong Kong’s first Zero Carbon building, the world’s biggest shopping mall in Dubai, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in the US and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
