The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) quizzed 188 of its members on how the boss started out and found that nearly 60% began their career as apprentices.
The research also found that more than half of those bosses were running their own company within just seven years of completing their apprenticeship training, and that 98% of construction SME owners value an apprenticeship over a degree when looking for new staff.
Speaking at the start of 鈥楴ational Apprentice Week鈥�, FMB chief executive Brian Berry said: 鈥淭he construction industry is ideally suited to a young person with heaps of ambition and an entrepreneurial spirit. Our research demonstrates that a construction apprenticeship is the perfect springboard for a successful and rewarding career, with more than half of construction SMEs being run by people who started out as an apprentice. Of those who went on to start their own businesses, more than one in two reached that goal within a mere seven years of completing their apprenticeship training, showing that you can go from being a brickie to a business owner in no time at all.鈥�
He said: 鈥淓ven if running your own firm isn鈥檛 what you aspire to do, a construction apprenticeship can nevertheless provide the foundation for a highly rewarding career. Almost 80% of our SME construction bosses said that employment in the sector offers high levels of job satisfaction with tangible results and 87% believe an apprenticeship teaches useful and practical skills. What鈥檚 more, by the age of 23, a bricklayer with five years' experience can earn up to 拢31,000 and rising in some cases to 拢52,000 in London. Given the high levels of university tuition fees, young people have every reason to properly consider a more vocational education and pursuing a career in construction looks an increasingly shrewd move.鈥�
Tony Passmore, managing director of the Passmore Group said: 鈥淚鈥檝e been working in the construction聽 industry for a long time now and I鈥檝e lost count of the number of young people who I鈥檝e seen start out at the bottom, put in the hard work during their apprenticeship, and then rise up through the ranks to set up their own firm. Many of them wouldn鈥檛 have guessed they鈥檇 soon be running their own business when they first entered the construction industry and started their apprenticeship. And for those who aren鈥檛 keen on running their own firm, most jobs in the construction industry give you the freedom to work anywhere in the country 鈥� or better still, anywhere in the world.鈥�
National Apprenticeship Week is a government propaganda initiative co-ordinated by the National Apprenticeship Service, 鈥渢o celebrate apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals, businesses and the wider economy鈥�.
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