Today we announce our involvement in BBC’s latest series, The Nine to Five with Stacey Dooley. Aimed at school-age teenagers, The Nine to Five follows presenter Stacey Dooley as she takes a group of 15-18-year-olds into different industries that are hungry for young recruits, for the ultimate hands-on work experience, including on site at our Ebbsfleet development.
The programme, which will air on CBBC and BBC iPlayer, gives five teenagers the chance to learn real-life lessons as they work and live away from home. Not only do the teenagers get to experience different industries, but they are also able to receive help from top bosses and recruiters across the UK and be introduced to key employment skills that will help them to kickstart their careers.
While on site at our flagship Ebbsfleet Green, the teens were put to the test with a timed breeze block bricklaying task – one of the most potentially lucrative trades in construction, as skilled professionals are paid per brick. Those in the group that excelled at bricklaying were given the chance to lay the outer bricks for the home. This was a real test of skills because these bricks form the external walls, meaning nothing short of perfection will meet our very high standards.
Meanwhile, budding salesperson Louis, was taught what it takes to prepare a show home for a customer viewing. He was offered the opportunity to follow real-life customers around the show home and was tested on his knowledge of the various bespoke fixtures and fittings on offer. At the end of the day, the team were able to decide which of the group deserved their apprentice wage and were even able to offer jobs to two-standout workers.
Zara Barrow, our Group construction manager, commented: “It was a pleasure to work with Stacey Dooley and the BBC and TwentyTwenty productions on The Nine to Five series with Stacey Dooley, which provides young people with an insight into different career options across a variety of sectors nationwide. Through our involvement, we hope to have opened young people’s eyes to the prospect of a career in construction, and to have demonstrated that a wide variety of roles are available in this sector.
“The group involved were fantastic workers, and we hope to see some of them join our ranks in the future!”
Karen Jones, our Group HR Director, commented: “During such an uncertain time and while the job market remains volatile, it’s important young people are fully informed about all the options available to them. Nurturing and developing young talent to have the confidence to pursue and excel in their chosen career paths is more important now than ever.
“At Redrow, we believe hands-on experience is crucial to learning, which is why we are fortunate to be able to still offer excellent training in compliance with Covid-19 guidelines.”
We’re committed to ensuring that at least 15% of our workforce are trainees and are enrolled on a structured training programme, such as an apprenticeship or graduate scheme, at any one time. Last year, we saw an additional 160 trainees recruited to roles across the company in trade, administration, technical and commercial roles.
Our apprenticeship scheme provides young people, as well as those looking to make a career change, the opportunity to kick-start a successful career in a skilled trade, administration, a technical or commercial role. Each apprentice on the scheme benefits from paid, on-the-job training and work experience combined with college-based study that will provide them with essential industry qualifications (NVQ).
To find out more about the different training schemes that we offer, please visit: https://www.redrowplc.co.uk/careers/working-at-redrow/
To watch the BBC’s The Nine to Five with Stacey Dooley, please visit the iPlayer platform. The episode will also air on CBBC at 13.20 on Tuesday 16th February.
