A virtual reality simulator was at the centre of a recent event to show students in South Wales just some of the roles that the housebuilding industry offers to young people through a career with Lovell.
The Skills Cymru event, held at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena, is one of the region’s largest careers events, and Lovell’s team of trainers invited Year 11 students to try some of their skills using the CITB’s excavator simulator.
The housebuilder also offered work placement opportunities for the teenagers across South Wales, as well as advice on applying for apprenticeships.
“We had an extremely busy day at Skills Cymru, meeting students from across South Wales,” says Lovell project skills co-ordinator Nicola Murray. “Bringing more young people into the industry has always been central to Lovell’s strategy, enabling us to develop the skilled workforce we need to support our continuing business growth as well as invest in local communities by providing training opportunities for residents.
“Engaging directly with teenagers at events like Skills Cymru is an important part of this, enabling us to show them how exciting a career in the industry can be through activities such as the simulator.
“As a company we’ve directly trained more than two dozen apprentices in this region over the past two years, in addition to supporting many apprenticeships organised by our subcontractor partners. We’re also committed to offering work placements on our sites – a great way of finding out if the world of construction is right for you.
“We were particularly pleased to meet so many young women at the event – including an aspiring quantity surveyor who is now set to spend time with us on work experience.”
Lovell is working in partnership with other firms to build new homes across South Wales and the South West of England – 380 homes are expected to be completed by them in 2018 alone.
Research from the CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) predicts Wales having the UK’s highest growth in construction, around three-and-a-half times the national average, which will create 12,250 new construction jobs there by 2022, with surveyors, bricklayers, carpenters and civil engineers in particularly strong demand.
