FOR many trades, apprenticeships are a tried and tested way to enter an industry, and almost two thirds of building and construction bosses started their careers as apprentices.
Carried out by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), a recent study found that 60 per cent of small and medium size construction firm owners began as apprentices and half of those bosses were began running their own companies within seven years of completing their training.
A staggering 98 per cent of construction employers asked, said they value an apprenticeship over a degree when looking for new staff.
Chief executive of the FMB, Brian Berry, said: “The construction industry is ideally suited to a young person with heaps of ambition and an entrepreneurial spirit. Our research demonstrates that a construction apprenticeship is the perfect springboard for a successful and rewarding career, with more than half of construction SMEs being run by people who started out as an apprentice. Of those who went on to start their own businesses, more than one in two reached that goal within a mere seven years of completing their apprenticeship training, showing that you can go from being a brickie to a business owner in no time at all.”