Students will renovate city's historic homes
A group of construction students have begun work on the first of dozens of abandoned and historic properties in Wolverhampton to be renovated under a revolutionary training scheme backed by celebrity builder Tommy Walsh.
Engineering Real Results, the largest trades training organisation in the UK, has spent months buying up neglected and derelict properties in a multi-million pound move which gives young tradesmen and women a way round restrictive Government legislation which has forced apprentices to beg for unpaid work for decades.
Work has started on the first of the properties, 22 Beckminster Road, as six students – including a disabled woman who wants to set up her own plumbing business – set about replacing the pipework in the 1930s semi detached property.
The scheme allows them to comply with controversial Government rules which demand apprentices carry out 100 hours practical training and has forced apprentices onto the streets begging for unpaid work for decades. Now they can complete their qualifications in weeks rather than years.
The next Wolverhampton project is at the heart of one of Britain's first garden suburbs on Bushbury Road. Garden suburbs were a late Victorian idea to give workers a better way of life first introduced by Black Country Sir Richard Paget whose family owned the surrounding area.
As students began work Ground Force star Tommy said: "The Government's commitment to building hundreds of thousands of homes is threatened by skill shortages. Britain has plenty of young people ready to build a new life for their families by learning a trade but they come up against a brick wall when it comes to completing their skills-set – they need practical experience to prove they can do the job and they find it very difficult to get."
The scheme is also being backed by the National Federation of Builders and a leading training charity. Once the properties are renovated they will be used as accommodation for students attending courses at Engineering Real Results' state-of-the-art college at Bakers Boot Factory in Cleveland Road, All Saints.
And as the company's property portfolio grows students will get the opportunity to buy homes at a discounted price.
Dr Jan Telensky, described as the 'financial angel' behind the project, said: "I began my career as a salesman in offices on the Tettenhall Road so the area has many good memories for me. I remember though that in the 70s and 80s it was an area suffering because of the decline of its manufacturing industry.
"After being made a city in 2001 it has begun to grow in to a place of pride and ambition with a wonderful ethnic mix and good shops and business potential. In our own way we hope to improve this fabulous city too."
There have been thousands of new construction jobs this year as builders attempt to meet Government targets, but apprentices who spent years learning to become plumbers, gas fitters, bricklayers and electrician have been missing out because of the legislation.
Dr Telensky said: "Our own apprentices were losing out. This new scheme, New Vocational Quickstart, involves renovating properties across the country and enables them to get there NVQ in just weeks instead of years."
Engineering Real Results which was involved in the restoration of the historic Baker's Boot Factory in All Saints, has also been buying properties in Watford, Cardiff, Southampton, Featherstone in Yorkshire, Livingstone, West Lothian, Cardiff, Basildon, Luton and Dunstable.
Chairman of BPEC, the NVQ certification organisation and charity, Frank Glover said: "For too long you could study to get into the industry and then you had to find an employer and that wasn't always easy. The red tape creates a blockage in the labour market. But this scheme is a fantastic solution, it allows people to get real hands-on experience and ERR has become one of our leading centres for training and development."
Paul Senior, chairman of the National Federation of Builders, also backed the scheme, saying: "Anything to provide training and experience to young construction students is a very good thing. The industry is very dependent on up-to-date skills and experience and we welcome innovative solutions such as Engineering Real Results, but it needs to be sustainable to meet the growing demand for student work placements."