Undergraduates Austin Dalby, 18, Max Smith, 20 and Sean Williams, 19, have started their three-year sponsored Construction Management degree programme that teaches participants the skills needed to work in a range of departments within Redrow.
The course, that was launched in 2017 in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and Coleg Cambria, is the first of its kind and is available for school leavers with a strong set of A-Level or BTEC Level 3 results and a desire to start a career in the industry; or for those with a construction background looking for further qualifications.
Austin, from Hoylake on the Wirral, comes from a family of construction professionals and knew it was a career he also wanted to pursue; but it was a video of our company founder Steve Morgan that cemented his decision to choose our degree: “In the video Steve Morgan was talking about his desire to give people as many opportunities as possible and the degree is just one of many ways Redrow supports the next generation.”
Austin says that while completing his degree, he will gain valuable experience that many other students will miss out on due to Covid: “While a lot of other students are currently completing their degrees via Zoom lectures, I get to benefit from face to face interaction, so I feel very lucky. The benefits that come with this degree are huge, one being I have mentors who will guide me as I learn on the job.”
Max Smith, from Liverpool, says having the chance to rotate around different departments but also spend time at leading universities will help him see how each department plays an integral part in the construction process and will give him skills he can use in whatever career path he ends up taking: “I’m looking forward seeing how well I fit in to the different departments as I may end up going down a path I never would have known about before my degree.”
Max previously spent time with our customer service team during a two week work experience placement while he was in high school. He also spent time with the us after completing his A-Levels, voluntarily spending a week on site with the project management team to get an understanding of the role they play.
Sean Williams from Abergele completed a bricklaying apprenticeship with us prior to starting the housebuilding degree and wanted to complete a degree to give himself a broader knowledge of the construction and customer journey.
Sean says: “I’d had an interest to do a degree since I started my apprenticeship in 2017 and I made the decision to join the course as I feel like my knowledge of the industry will be a huge asset to me. Hands on work experience is a huge benefit and, we’re earning while learning. It’s going to be interesting to see what I end up doing.”
Jason Newton, managing director in the North West said: “Previously our three-year housebuilding degree programme has only been available to existing employees, but this year we opened it up to external candidates and school leavers. Austin, Max and Sean are among around 20 people starting the course. It reaffirms Redrow’s commitment to recruitment, training and employee development: 93% of employees say they are proud to work for Redrow and we were the first and only housebuilder to achieve the Quality Mark from the British Institute of Learning and Development for the standard of training delivered. We’re very proud and privileged to be inspiring the next generation to build.”
To find out more about our housebuilding degree visit www.redrowcareers.co.uk/redrowhousebuildingdegree
