Lucas launches college partnership to boost training and apprenticeships

Lucas has appointed its first fully qualified training and apprenticeships manager and is partnering with London South East Colleges as part of its commitment to bring college vocational courses together with practical, on-site training. Lucas believes this is the best solution to solving the construction industry’s skills shortage.

Barry Mason joins Lucas with over 30 years’ experience as a painter and decorator. He is also a qualified assessor and instructor and is a former lecturer at Shrewsbury College. He is making a series of practical training videos with Lucas called “Brush up with Barry”

Lucas has now reached a major milestone by securing accreditation from City & Guilds to be able to assess candidates for their NVQ Level 2 qualifications. The partnership with London South East Colleges gives us the opportunity to build a satellite training academy, the Lucas Centre of Excellence, developing full NVQ and City & Guilds diplomas with a mixture of classroom theory, E-learning or distance learning for young students, and practical site-based tuition, experience and formal assessment.

Lucas has discussed issues of training and skills shortages in construction with the Government. It concluded the best way forward must involve companies in the training process, and convey the true site experience and demonstrate the full range of skills and disciplines required to be a successful operative today.

Bob Noseda, Sector Skills Executive at London South East Colleges, said: “We are determined to inspire and encourage young people into the construction industry. Our partnership with Lucas and many other employers will help us to achieve this goal and ensure that we have a highly skilled workforce for the future.

Danny Lucas, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of Lucas, said: “It is very important that a company like Lucas can become part of the training process. We will enthuse a new generation of painters and decorators with what our industry can offer as they make their journey towards full qualification and a career in construction.”

As part of our partnership Danny Lucas took part in a Construction Question Time held at London South East Colleges Bromley Campus.

Andrew Stevens - CEO of technical and digital education providers CNet Training chaired the Q&A session and gave students a brief introduction to the main themes the panel would discuss. After welcoming our guests, he told the audience: “Careers in construction and the built environment are for those who have the ambition to become tomorrow’s top professionals; those that have vision, commitment, and flair. Jobs in the industry do not come easy and you will have to compete hard to get your foot on the first rung of the ladder.

Construction is becoming a multifaceted industry and employers only want to take on ‘good people’. They want the best possible candidates and they are willing to train them to become experts in their field. That’s how it works.”