Tolent team members Cody Sheriff and Luke Oldfield
North East construction company Tolent is benefiting from an innovative training programme designed to attract new talent into the industry.
The firm has boosted its workforce thanks to PlanBEE, a higher apprenticeship programme developed by Gateshead College and Ryder Architecture to inspire young people to pursue a career in the built environment sector.
Gateshead-based Tolent has recruited three PlanBEE apprentices to its team following their successful completion of the programme.
Cody Sheriff, Luke Oldfield and Morgan Bridgett are now permanent members of the Tolent team, working at sites across the region. Sheriff, 22, is a trainee engineer and Oldfield, 21, and Bridgett, 20, are trainee site managers.
Oldfield is currently working alongside Sheriff on the £120m Milburngate mixed-use development in Durham. He is continuing his learning at Northumbria University where he is studying towards a degree in Construction Engineering Management.
PlanBEE launched in 2016. The first of its kind in the sector, the programme is now being used as an exemplar across the country.
It is a bespoke higher-level skills programme that provides budding professionals with study and off-the-job training along with a job working with some of the region’s leading companies.
It has been tailored specifically for and by the north-east construction sector, providing young people with a starting salary of £12,409 per year, a professional qualification and a guaranteed job opportunity on graduation.
Tolent was one of the first companies to get involved and continues to offer placements to apprentices on the programme. Other PlanBEE sponsors include NBS, BIM Academy, Sir Robert McAlpine and Bowmer + Kirkland.
