Five minutes with: Karen Jones, HR Director at Redrow

Housebuilder and construction firm, Redrow, believes that there is real value in apprenticeships when it comes to closing the skills gap in the construction sector – a sector vital to our society.

We spoke to their HR Director, Karen Jones, about the affect apprenticeships have had in their business, and how other firms can best harness the skills of trainees…

What are the benefits of bringing in apprenticeships?

Bringing apprentices into a business provides a fresh pool of talented individuals who can be grown and developed by that business right from the start of their careers. We have found this makes apprentices particularly loyal and they are very often the people who are willing to step-up into a challenging role and stretch themselves. Last year 29% of all promotions at Redrow were trainees.