He’s not the latest music sensation or reality TV personality, but Jacob Ashton is getting rave reviews in Manchester with Ameon, nonetheless.
Jacob, 19, of Ashton-Under-Lyne, is the latest management apprentice to join Ameon on the PlanBEE high-level apprenticeship programme in Manchester. And like others in his cohort, working on Manchester’s most iconic new building developments, such as Manchester Life’s Eliza Yard and Jersey Wharf, he’s proving to be a breath of fresh air for employers, who claim that the PlanBEE programme is a game-changer for professional recruitment in the construction sector.
The former Ashton sixth form student is one of a number of PlanBEE apprentices working on sites for a growing number of top contractors, developers and architects in Manchester and beyond, with employers such as Ameon benefiting from a corps of elite trainees who are being prepared for careers in technical and professional roles within the construction industry.
Contractors are happy to wax lyrical about the standard of trainees, and their seemingly innate ability to make an early, positive contribution in highly charged and challenging working environments.
Ameon’s contracts manager, Tom Scott believes Jacob Ashton to be an example of PlanBEE’s rigorous recruitment and vetting processes, which guarantee employers trainees with a maturity belying their years and relative inexperience. He commented: “PlanBEE is like no other higher level apprenticeship programme we have seen, because the apprentices have proven themselves to be an asset to our business from day one – demonstrating a work ethic, initiative and intellect that reflects well on the scheme and its standards.
“Of course we still provide structured training, but our investment of time in the process is reduced, simply because these young people just ‘get it’ from the outset, which means we are able to task them with often complex projects in absolute confidence that have the ability and personality to deliver tangible results.”
Having discovered the unique benefits of PlanBEE, it looks likely that other major businesses in the construction and development sectors will soon join the likes of Sisk, Ameon, Mace and Manchester Life in becoming advocates for what appears to be a uniquely structured management training concept.
Perhaps the only question they’ll all be asking is: “why anybody didn’t do this sooner?”
Image shows PlanBEE apprentices (from left) Jacob Ashton, representing Ameon; Harry Kennedy, Sisk and Maxwell Street, Mace.
