A partnership between a Tees Valley college and a major local employer to deliver targeted training to employees is being hailed as a massive success by both parties.

Redcar & Cleveland College and Coast & Country Housing have been working together to deliver training for the housing association’s staff for the last 10 years and during that time hundreds of apprentices and other staff have had their skills boosted by a college training course.

The partnership began in 2001 when the college began delivering training in areas such as joinery, plumbing and brickwork and this has now expanded into other areas including business based qualifications.

Steve Healey, Head of Maintenance Operations, at Coast & Country said: “Our relationship with Redcar & Cleveland College is something we're extremely proud of. 

“We have massive experience in the construction industry and, in partnership with the college, we're able to teach these students all that we know, not just about a specific trade but about customer service and team work, to be a success.

“Our staff are the most important part of our business and it’s vital that they have the necessary skills to deliver outstanding service to our customers.”

One Coast & Country employee who is taking full advantage of the partnership is 24 year old painting and decorating apprentice Craig Goodall. Craig, who is in the first year of his apprenticeship, spends four days a week on site and one day a week in college working towards an NVQ Level 2 and a Diploma Level 2 in Painting and Decorating.

“Being an apprentice is great as it’s the best of both worlds,” says Craig who lives in Norton with his parents.

“It means that I can work towards getting a qualification when I’m at college, but I also get to learn on the job from my manager and colleagues.

“It’s allowed me to develop the skills I learn at college and carry them out within a tight timeframe in conjunction with all of the other construction trades.”

Craig’s skills were recently recognised when he won the New Entrant Painting and Decorating category and the Crown Trade Apprentice Decorator of the Year award at the north east heats of the national SkillBuild competition, which were held at the college last month.

“It was really challenging preparing to take part, especially because you’re marked on the time you take to complete the job as well as the overall quality of your work, but for me that’s just like the work I do every day for Coast & Country and I just thought of the judges as one of our customers and concentrated on making them happy” added Craig.

Steve Healey went on to say of Craig’s win: “I am delighted that Craig was awarded first place in the Crown Trade Apprentice Decorator of the Year. This goes to show that Coast & Country customers are in the hands of first class trades people.
 
“I’m sure this is the start of a fantastic career for Craig and I am confident that his time with Coast & Country will give him the grounding he needs.

Principal of Redcar & Cleveland College, Gary Groom, said: “Craig is a great example of how the work that Redcar & Cleveland College does with Coast & Country is producing real results for the young people of the Tees Valley.

“It’s vitally important for the future economic prosperity of our region that we invest in the skills of our future workforce and ensure that they are able to meet the future needs of major employers such as Coast & Country. We’re delighted that we are able to work with them and help them to meet these needs.”

Painting and Decorating is just one of the courses that are delivered in partnership by the college and Coast & Country. As well as delivering training in all of the individual construction trades the college has also worked to develop a number of specific qualifications to suit the needs of CCH. These include a National and Higher National Certificate in Building Studies and a new Apprenticeship in Housing which will be delivered from this September.