Travis Perkins plc has launched a new partnership with Eastleigh College in Hampshire to provide traineeship opportunities for learners and help more young people into work.

This partnership is the first one of its kind in the further education sector, and will involve Travis Perkins providing up to 300 annual traineeships across England for 19-24 year old learners who are connected to the College from January 2022.

Eastleigh will deliver specialist training, English and maths skills to every trainee, whilst Travis Perkins will provide workplace preparation and placements that cover a range of different areas of the business, including yards, warehouses, branches, tool hire, administration and sales.

In addition to practical skills, the comprehensive training schedule will include health and safety training, CV writing and interview preparation. Through Eastleigh College each trainee will also be supported by a dedicated Traineeship Coach via webinars and one-to-one sessions, to help ensure learners are well prepared to progress into full employment within the Travis Perkins group.

"The breadth of our businesses and our track record for training and development combined with the strong family values and commitment we have to our local communities, mean we have a strong offering for the traineeship candidates here at Travis Perkins,” explained Travis Perkins plc’s Chief HR Officer, Emma Rose.

"Our apprenticeship programmes and Kickstarter placements support the economic recovery and are extremely successful, both for the young people who want to expand their knowledge and capabilities, and for us as an employer who is investing in the next generation workforce and wants to play a leading part in the modernisation of our industry. We see this new partnership as a great way to accelerate the progress we have made, so we continue to develop our talent pool and build a more diverse workforce for the future,” she continued.

"Traineeships are an excellent, flexible, work-based route to help young people gain the confidence, skills and experience they need, and in Travis Perkins we have found a partner that shares the same ambitions and values for what I hope will now become a mutually beneficial and enduring offering for our learners. We know construction has an important role to play in the post-Covid recovery and this Traineeship opportunity will see us deliver an exciting extension to the education, training and apprenticeship opportunities we already offer,” said Paul Cox, Chief Executive of Eastleigh College, which is the largest college apprenticeship provider in the Solent region; rated ‘Good' by Ofsted, and ‘Outstanding’ for its residential provision.

Travis Perkins is already the largest provider of apprenticeships in the construction sector; with over 40 programmes on offer to the nearly 1,000 colleagues who are enrolled on its apprenticeships.

The company was also amongst the first to be approved by the Government as an official Kickstart employer, providing six-month training and skills work placements for young, unemployed 16 to 24-year olds. Following their placements, over 100 Travis Perkins Kickstarters have since gone on to become permanent colleagues.