Local employers were able to meet some of the best young talent coming into the construction industry at an exclusive networking event hosted by Sunderland College.
The college showcased its Construction and Building Services courses and facilities at its state-of-the-art City Campus, and event which enabled businesses to find out how they could benefit from hosting T Level placements or apprenticeships as well as how adult skills service EPNE Training could help them develop and recruit their workforce.
Sponsored by Powertool World, one of the UK’s largest tool distributors, there were also seminars and masterclasses from Gentoo Group, Women into Construction, Equans, Carney Consultancy, and EPNE Training.
Michael Dodds, Curriculum Manager for Construction said: “Sunderland College strives to build our partnership with local businesses, our supplier expo in January was a huge success. Two of our exhibitors at the event, Powertool World and DeWalt supplied some fantastic prizes including a DeWalt Tool kit worth £1999, a Bosch Cordless hammer drill worth £800 and a DeWalt combi drill set worth £300.
“The winner of the DeWalt tool kit was Leonie Harding from Brims construction and the winners of the other two prizes donated by Powertool World were won by students Mark Levelle (plumbing) and Luke Marshall (construction). These prizes will help these students build up their own tool kits, ready for the world of work. All of our students and exhibitors declared the event a resounding success with lots of knowledge and new experiences being shared.”
The event took place between 9.30am and 1pm on Wednesday 17 January, and included several demonstrations from trade areas such as plumbing, carpentry & joinery, electrical, brick, motor vehicle, and engineering consisting of ‘how to’ sessions.
There were opportunities for local business visitors interested in offering work placements or becoming an apprentice provider to find out more, as well as getting information on funding available to them.
Andrew Pickersgill, Managing Director of Powertool World who sponsored the event said: “It has been a huge honour to work with Sunderland College and Dewalt to support the recent Construction Showcase event.
“We were delighted to present Leonie Harding of Brims Construction with her Dewalt 18v Cordless 8-piece power tool kit, and level 2 brick student Luke Marshall with his Dewalt 18v Combi Drill & Impact Driver set.
“In addition, Powertool World handed over a Bosch rotary hammer drill to Mark Lavelle who won the other prize draw. We hope these power tools provide a platform for the students to continue their work with the college and progress into full time education.
“We look forward to continuing to support the college in other areas to help see more and more students find suitable work across the North East.”
To launch the event, Powertool World gave away an 8-piece cordless power tool kit worth £1999 courtesy of DeWalt and the lucky winner of this generous competition prize was Leonie Harding from Brims Construction.
Jason Wood, Director of Brims Construction who are constructing the Sunderland College-led Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HICSA), said: “‘Brims Construction had an excellent morning at the Sunderland College Construction Showcase Event. It was a great opportunity for us to meet and greet the next generation of students coming through the construction industry.
“It was also a fantastic way to showcase HICSA, which is set to become the College’s new training facility for all things construction in 2025’
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98% of our students progress to a positive destination
(*Destination data for Sunderland College students aged 16-18, academic year 2017/18).
Our achievement rates are well above the national average.
We are the College of the Year.
(*Top college nationally for BTECs, Pearson 2019)
100% of our HND and HNC students progressed to employment or further study.
(*Destination data, academic year 2016/17, HNC 19+)
We have recently invested £50 million in our facilities.
