Ranil Jayawardena recently met staff from RW Armstrong, Sherborne St John to find out more about local apprenticeship opportunities within the North East Hampshire constituency.
RW Armstrong, founded over 50 years ago, specialises in the renovation, extension and refurbishment of period and country homes. The firm has a proud record of supporting apprentices, having taken on promising young people for more than 40 years. It currently has seven apprentices training with a new intake every year comprising carpenters, bench joiners and bricklayers.
During the visit Ranil offered his support to the Construction Industry Training Board’s ‘I’m Backing Apprenticeships campaign’, which encourages young people to consider a career in construction.
Ranil said:
“It’s great to hear that 2,940 new apprenticeships have started locally since 2010. This means more young people are earning a living whilst learning the skills needed to get on in life and do well. I very much enjoyed visiting RW Armstrong to see for myself a great example of a business in the area offering their support in training the next generation of construction workers.
“Apprenticeships are a core part of the Government’s plan to deliver a more secure future for young people, which is why we committed to deliver 3 million more high quality apprenticeships by 2020 – with these figures confirming we are already making progress towards that."