PROFILE Esh Group
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Left: (L-r) Apprentices; Joseph Knaggs, Ben Vickers, Zac Widera and Andy Gawthorpe, regional managing director Esh Construction. Right: (L-r) Leigh Deighton, Head of Business Development Esh Construction, Armand Anebo and Andy Gawthorpe, regional managing director Esh Construction. Academy and offices in Bowburn, County Durham, to ensure it has the facilities to train its future talent. Brian Manning, Group Chief Executive, Esh Group said: “At Esh Group our business is built on great people and as it expands and develops we believe that a great apprenticeship programme is essential to supporting our growth. Esh Academy is about us taking responsibility for making sure we’ve got those great people coming through.” The new academy will be a fully accessible building that will feature a range of high quality indoor training facilities including syndicate rooms, administration offices, areas for the trainees to meet and study and an outdoor training area for construction plant and materials handling training. The Esh Academy was created to draw together Esh Added Value, Esh Training Solutions and group HR activities across the North East, Yorkshire, Scotland Borders and Cumbria under one banner with Esh Training Solutions responsible for apprentices, trainees and Esh Group staff CPD. Training and apprenticeships underpin business at Esh Group which has a turnover of over £280m and directly employs around 1,200 people in its construction and property operations throughout the North. Tricia Mullen, group training manager, who is responsible for running the apprenticeships programme explained: “It is really exciting that we will soon have our own dedicated facilities from which Esh Academy will be run. We’re well on the way to achieving our commitment of taking on 150
apprentices over three years. So far we’ve taken on 107 apprentices – almost 7% of our total workforce - across the range of business operations and across all areas in which we operate and our retention rate is just under 90%.” The apprenticeships available at Esh Group cover a wide range of roles including plumbing, business administration, painting and decorating, electrical, quantity surveying, construction engineering, landscaping, carpentry and joinery, bricklaying, groundworks and drainage, vehicle maintenance and IT. Mullen continued: “We select and place our apprentices very carefully and work really closely with local colleges, CITB and JTL to ensure apprentices are trained well and to industry standards. “In addition 88 employed staff members act as mentors within Esh Group, with apprentices working alongside them to learn and gain information, advice and support. “Both the mentors and the apprentices really enjoy this – it’s a great way of transferring skills and knowledge and, we believe, is really important in supporting the current rate of 95% of apprentices enrolled completing their apprenticeships. “Together we make every effort to give the trainees the best chance of succeeding – and we are delighted that our retention rate is so good too; it’s a tribute to everyone involved.” Apprenticeship programmes offer solutions to the skills shortage, and an option to young people who do not wish to progress into higher education,
while allowing businesses to recruit someone with the right attitude and work ethic providing training required to build specific professional skills. Young people are renowned for bringing fresh thinking and enthusiasm into a company providing a solid base to build their skills set. Through Esh Academy the company is investing in its future leaders, while upskilling its current workforce. The company believes it is money well spent if it can nurture its apprentices to enable growth and performance. Apprenticeships are a significant part to the culture at Esh Group as many of its senior members of staff began their careers as apprentices. A final thought from Andy Gawthorpe has resonance for all businesses: “Good business is sound business but we don’t invest millions without a business case. Every part of our academy programme, from schools to graduates, is quantified and measured for a return on investment. After all, you should always measure what you value.”
3360 The Pentagon, Century Way, Thorpe Park, Leeds, LS15 8ZB T: 0113 399 3030 www.eshgroup.co.uk