Leicestershire Based Homebuilder Named Best Apprentice Employer in The UK

Locally based national homebuilder, Barratt Developments has won the Macro Employer of the Year award at the National Apprentices Award 2014, beating major companies including British Airways, HSBC and Ford to the coveted title.

It was the first time Barratt, which is based in Bardon in Leicestershire and is the parent company of Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, had entered the Macro Employer category of the competition, which celebrates companies who show commitment towards apprenticeships.

As a result of winning the prestigious title, Barratt now features in the prestigious annual City & Guilds Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list.

Mark Clare, Group Chief Executive of Barratt Developments PLC, said: “I'm immensely proud that Barratt has won this award – it's a fantastic achievement to be recognised by education experts as having the best apprenticeship programme in the UK.

“Apprenticeships have a major part to play in building our business and this award underlines their value to the homebuilding sector and our company. Many of our senior staff started out as apprentices and have worked their way up, learning as they went."

Earlier this year, in light of encouraging growth within the homebuilding industry, Barratt PLC announced that it would be taking on an extra 1,100 apprentices nationally over three years, a figure the company is already well on the way to achieving.

As part of their training, each apprentice will work on an assigned development for some of their working week, as well as taking part in classroom based learning at a local college.

Locally, four of the most recent intake for the company's East Midlands division of David Wilson Homes are non-school leavers, employed in the role as the division seeks to diversify and expand its skills pool.

32-year-old Warren Yeoman, an apprentice joiner from Braunstone, said, “I've been working as a carpenter for years now, but I've never got the proper qualification, so I'm grateful to David Wilson Homes for taking me on and giving me the opportunity to finally get one."

Kyle Buswell, a 25-year-old apprentice joiner, also from Braunstone, said, “I've been working on sites for a while through agencies, but I'm at the age now where I want to be looking at something more permanent, and an apprenticeship should help me get that."

Ryan Thompson, a 26-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Leicester, said, “I've been labouring my whole working life, but I never got the qualifications when I was younger. I see this as a chance at getting into the industry properly and working my way up in the trade."

22-year-old Arran Beany, an apprentice bricklayer from Hugglescote, said, “I've already done an apprenticeship in joinery, so I'm pretty used to working on building sites. I've always wanted to be a bricklayer though, and now that I'm on the course I can't wait to get stuck in!"

Darren Langton, Construction Director at David Wilson Homes East Midlands, said, “You can become an apprentice at any stage of your career, whether you're looking to make a start or have years of experience under your belt and are looking for a change of career.

“The National Apprentices Award we have just won demonstrates that we employ the very best homebuilders."

To find out more about apprenticeships at Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes please log on to www.barrattfuturetalent.co.uk

For more information about local David Wilson Homes developments please call 0844 811 5544 or log on to the website at www.dwh.co.uk. To find out more about local Barratt Homes developments please call 0844 811 3377 or visit www.barratthomes.co.uk

- Ends -

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1) For further information about Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes please contact Alice Norman or Alex Scoppie, Unsworth Sugden, on 0116 2471777 or alice@unsworthsugden.co.uk or alexs@unsworthsugden.co.uk

2) Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes are part of Barratt Developments PLC

3) Barratt Group sold 14,838 homes in the year to June 2014, making it the biggest housebuilder by volume in Britain

4) Barratt Group was awarded a maximum five star rating for the fifth consecutive year in the 2014 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey

5) Site managers working for Barratt Group won 90 awards for quality workmanship in the 2014 NHBC Pride in the Job Awards. Barratt has won more Pride in the Job awards than any other housebuilder for the last ten years

6) Barratt Group is the only housebuilder to provide a five year warranty on the fixtures and fittings in its new build homes at the time of purchase