Individuals from a cross section of businesses swapped their usual surroundings for a day on a building site as they took part in a special ‘Apprentice for the Day’ initiative with hub South West and Kier Construction.

Charlotte McDonnell and Craig Young (both from hub South West), Gary Gray (Skills Development Scotland) and Mark McGuigan (Martec Engineering) worked with Kier Construction on Wednesday 2 March at its Marr College site. The quartet then moved to the Garnock Campus later in the afternoon.

They were joined on site by three pupils from Marr College, who came to learn about the many varied careers available in construction. Flynn Murray, Douglas Rankine and Mac McInnes, all aged 16, joined up with mentors from Kier, PJ Careys and FES to learn about site engineering, quantity surveying, mechanical, plumbing and planning.

The initiative, which was facilitated by Kier, was undertaken as part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2016. The campaign took place from 29 February to 4 March and celebrated the benefits modern apprenticeships bring to businesses, individuals and the economy. 

Kier was supported on the day by some of its contractors working at Marr College, including FES, D&D Decorators, SPIE Ltd, Martec Engineering, PJ Careys and JB Brickwork.

Charlotte McDonnell, Skills Academy development manager for hub South West, said:

“Apprentice for a Day was a fantastic event on which to collaborate with Skills Development Scotland and Kier Construction. Not only did the students get involved and help us support Scottish Apprenticeship Week, they also gained a diverse and genuine insight into the variation of trades available in the industry, both technical and practical.

“Addressing the skills gap is a real priority for hub South West and by working with local enterprises, schools and our many participants, we look to encourage more opportunities like this to coincide with some of the exciting state-of-the-art educational facilities we are developing. This was an invaluable learning experience for both the participating pupils and the facilitators.”