Bricklaying siblings from William Davis Homes are sharing their apprenticeship journeys this week as the company marks National Apprenticeship Week 2022.
Oliver Bradshaw, 26, originally joined William Davis Homes through its award-winning apprenticeship scheme in 2011. He is now one of the 80 employees at the East Midlands housebuilder who started at the company as an apprentice. Ten years later, his youngest sister Sian, 16, followed in his footsteps joining the apprenticeship scheme in September 2021.
Oliver, says: “My older brother and dad are both in the building trade and so I followed them. The William Davis Homes apprenticeship was seen as the best in the business and I really wanted to get onto it. I’ve now been working with the company 10 years and the skills I have learnt and experience I have gained are now also helping me renovate my first house.”
Sian is currently based at the Lace Fields development in Ruddington working alongside two other first-year apprentice bricklayers under an apprentice mentor. For her first year she is mainly site-based with eight-weeks spent at Leicester College. She hopes to join her brother’s crew in her second year of the three-year apprenticeship.
She says: “I have been helping my dad and our older brother, who has his own building company, since I was little so I knew I wanted to work in the trade. Earning while learning really works for me and I’m saving money to buy my first car for when I can start driving lessons.
Both agree that the approach to learning through an apprenticeship is a real plus for them, with Oliver adding: “Neither of us liked being in the classroom at school and so the opportunity to start a career with a focus on practical, hands-on learning works for both of us.”
There are currently 38 apprentices at William Davis Homes in a range of key trades including bricklaying, joinery, plumbing, electrical installation and plant mechanics. There are also four technical trainees – three trainee quantity surveyors and one management trainee – based at the company’s Loughborough head office.
Recruitment has already begun for the 2022 intake when the company expects to take on at least eight more apprentices including bricklayers, site joiners, electricians and plumbing and gas engineers.
Gary Long, Apprenticeship Manager for William Davis Homes says: “National Apprenticeship Week is an important date in our calendar as it gives us the chance to recognise and promote the success of our in-house apprenticeship programme. Our apprenticeship and training schemes are a valuable way for us to recruit and retain highly-skilled tradespeople.
“Our apprentices are a major part of our workforce and they remain with us after they’ve completed their training, as evidenced by Oliver. We also find they are the best advocates for the scheme and so we were delighted when Sian joined us last year after watching her brother’s progression.”
The housebuilder has been taking on apprentices since 1946. Over that time, around 500 people have been trained, with approximately 90% remaining employed by William Davis Homes after completing their training.
The company invests heavily in its staff and has a predominantly directly-employed workforce. It has won a string of top awards in recognition of the quality of its apprenticeship and training schemes.
