National Apprenticeship Week 2021

11th February

2021 marks the 14^th Annual National Apprenticeship Week, a week dedicated to celebrating the achievements of apprentices and their employers across many industries, and ultimately help promote and inspire the future workforce. We at SCF are proud of our collaborative partners who have continued to invest in developing new entrants through apprenticeships, whilst rising to the challenges presented over the last year.

This last year has showcased the industries resilience, flexibility and adaptability whilst ultimately, ensuring the health and safety of everybody involved in the site activities. This has called on the commitment of each person involved in our projects, from clients to our supply chain. These challenges bring into sharp focus the need to secure our future workforce, through investment and training of new entrants and positive promotion of the diverse and wide-ranging careers in the built environment.

At SCF we have also recognised the need to ensure our social legacy work is reflective of the needs of the communities; the way in which individuals are seeking to further their employability, find out more about the industry, and access sustainable employment opportunities. Rising to these challenges, we have reviewed our polices and made a number of changes. We have developed a social legacy charter, (see here for more information) and adapted our Employment and Skills Plans to include a network of support agencies working across a diverse range of groups to increase employability of individuals. In addition, we have also included for the provision of virtual work experience, careers and curriculum enrichment options as part of a blended approach to promoting the industry as a vibrant, varied and exciting place to build a career.

Finally, we have bolstered our team in Devon with the appointment of a Procurement Graduate Millie Perkins – look at our social media this week to find out how Millie’s first few months with the team has been.

SCF have highlighted a number of apprentice stories on our website, have a look here

Our collaborative Main Contractors and Shared Apprenticeship Schemes have showcased a number of diverse apprentices either starting or on their journey into the industry. Have a look at their social media feeds to find out more and check out the national apprenticeship service for information on current vacancies as well as our shared apprenticeship partners operating across Southern England.