AN innovative partnership has resulted in two young painting and decorating apprentices gaining full-time work.
The “work with a local employer”
initiative run by Darlington College has resulted in Mark Evans, 19, from Barton, and Thomas Clark, 18, of Darlington, both being given full-time jobs with R Bland, the Darlington-based heating contractors.
Director Philip Bland, who employs more than 100 people, said: “We have a long established relationship with Darlington College and many of our employees, including myself, were former apprentices there.
“As a business we realise that apprentices are the lifeblood of our company.
We stopped taking them for a while about 20 years ago and it really hindered our growth. Now we pair our trainees up with seasoned tradesmen so that they can learn the skills required for the job and we get to mould them into our way of working.”
In the last year the company has taken on 12 trade apprentices for its plumbing, accountancy, plastering and decorating departments and is looking to recruit a further four or five by the end of the year.
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