Council team meets local East Scotland apprentices building careers in construction

A group of our apprentices showcased their skills to West Lothian Council’s Education Spokesperson during a recent site visit.

Councillor Andrew McGuire was joined by council officials at East Scotland's Merchants Gait development in East Calder, where they met with four of the bricklaying and joinery apprentices and heard how they are developing their skills and gaining valuable experience of the construction sector.

We are one of Scotland’s largest employers of bricklaying apprentices – with our apprenticeship programme including both young people and adults who are upskilling. The current crop of apprentices are undertaking a mixture of bricklaying, joinery and roofing modern apprenticeship frameworks and include the first three female apprentices in Scotland.

During the visit, Councillor McGuire, June Sloan and Lauren Barbour from the Council’s employability division also met with the East Scotland team to discuss the important role that apprentices play within the business, as well as our plans for continued investment across West Lothian.

Councillor Andrew McGuire, Education Spokesperson at West Lothian Council, said:

“It was wonderful to meet senior staff from Persimmon and apprentices as part of Apprenticeship Week and to hear first-hand the commitment Persimmon has to apprenticeships.

“It’s fantastic to hear of the support given and the pride taken in apprenticeships and it was equally great to look around the site in East Calder.”

The Merchants Gait development in East Calder will feature 256 new homes, 56 of which will be transferred to a local housing association partner to support local people in housing need.

Neil Parry, East Scotland Managing Director, said:

“It was great to mark Scottish Apprenticeship Week by welcoming the team from West Lothian Council to our Merchants Gait development and introducing them to some of the brilliant apprentices gaining valuable skills and experience on our site.

“Local apprentices are a big part of our future talent pipeline and we’ve made real progress with our apprenticeship programme in recent years – both increasing our number of apprentices and improving diversity.

“We’ve consistently been one of the largest employers of bricklaying apprentices in Scotland and we’re committed to providing exciting opportunities in our sector for everybody within the communities in which we build.”