Morrison Receives Unprecedented Level Of Interest For Its Leeds Apprenticeships

Published by Morrison for Morrison in Education and also in Housing

After a seven month recruitment process, repairs and maintenance service provider Morrison is nearing the end of its hunt for its 20 newLeedsapprentices.

The company, which is working in partnership with CITB-ConstructionSkills, was amazed by the unprecedented number of applications it received following the launch of its recruitment process earlier this year.  In just a couple of months, Morrison received over 380 applications from local Leeds people all eager to join the company and become one of its 17 General Maintenance or 3 Quantity Surveyor apprentices this September.

The inclusion of the three Quantity Surveyor placements in this year’s intake marks the first time Morrison has offered any non-trade apprenticeships in Leeds. It is hoped that these three positions will open the way for further office based apprenticeships in future years, offering an even wider scope of opportunities at the company.

Over the last couple of months, theMorrisonTrainingAcademyhas assessed each application through a comprehensive selection process in order to select the final 38 for the first interview phase; those who are successful at this stage will then be given a short practical skills assessment and a final interview.

The 20 apprentices will work on Morrison’s social housing repairs and refurbishment contracts inLeeds, which incorporate nearly 40,000 properties owned by Leeds City Council and managed by Aire Valley Homes, West North West Homes Leeds and Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation.

This year’s applicants have included a significant number of people from theAireValley, West North West Homes, and Belle Isle areas ofLeeds, which means that any successful candidates from these areas will be able to play a direct role in helping to improve their own neighbourhoods and communities.

Chris Wood, Account Director, MorrisonLeedssaid: “The level of response we have received this year has been astounding and really demonstrates how important the apprenticeships we offer to local people are. It is always difficult to make our selection but this year we have been really impressed by the high calibre of the candidates we are meeting. Unfortunately we cannot offer everyone a placement but we hope that even those who aren’t successful will at least gain some useful knowledge for the future.”

Morrison has also just appointed all seven of its newly qualified apprentices who have just finished their time into permanent positions at the company.

Chris Wood, continued: “Being able to support our apprentices through two or three years of training and watch them develop into skilled trades people, is something that makes everyone at Morrison very proud. However, qualifying is just the start for these young people and it is always our aim to be able to offer them a job at the end of their time with us and I am delighted to have been able to do so this year.”

Councillor Peter Gruen, LeedsCity Council executive board member with responsibility for neighbourhoods, planning and support services said: “It is great to see local apprentices being hired to work with one of our contractors.

“Getting local people into work, or providing skills to people is a key priority for the council, and it is good to see that there have been so many expressions of interest.”

Morrison already employs 240 apprentices nationally of which, 24 are based inLeedsand this new intake will almost double this number. In partnership with CITB-ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council and Industry Training Board for the construction industry, the new apprenticeships will receive training at Morrison’s Yorkshire Academy in Rotherham.