Tracy Brabin backs Persimmon’s pioneering scheme to get more women into construction

Ms Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, visited a Persimmon building site on the outskirts of Wakefield on Thursday to meet female construction apprentices who are part of Persimmon’s Target 50 initiative.

The company’s national scheme intends to increase gender diversity in the currently male-dominated industry by hiring 50 new female apprentices this year.

The visit coincided with A-Level results day as Ms Brabin promoted efforts to get more young people to consider apprenticeships as a path to future careers.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post during the visit, Ms Brabin said she was hugely impressed by the initiative.

“This absolutely chimes with everything that I want to achieve as the mayor,” she said. “I’m the first mayor of West Yorkshire, and the only woman metro mayor in the country, so I feel a personal obligation to do all I can to drop the ladder for other women.

“We need greater diversity on building sites, because these are great jobs, well paid, you get training, and also the world is your oyster because you can go through all the ranks up to very senior positions.”

During the visit, Ms Brabin met with Katelyn Davison, 20, and Katie Duggan, 21, to talk about their experience as apprentices, and discuss her own efforts to improve diversity within apprenticeships across West Yorkshire.

Both Ms Davison and Ms Duggan spoke highly of their experiences as apprentices, and were supportive of other women taking on similar roles.

Ms Davison, a bricklaying apprentice, said: “My apprenticeship has given me the opportunity to learn so many new skills and work with lots of new people. Every day is different and you get so much satisfaction from making things happen and completing a job.”

Persimmon’s Target 50 initiative, launched to mark the company’s 50th anniversary, is a national initiative to get more female construction apprentices across the firm’s 32 regions.

Out of 23 apprentices and trainees who work for Persimmon in the Yorkshire region, eight are currently female, with four more joining later this year.

Ms Brabin said she was also keen to highlight how apprenticeships can be beneficial for those who have had less conventional routes through education.

“What we’re talking about is how we can work together to get more young people in trades, but also young people who maybe have somehow missed education, so they’re not in employment, not in education, not in training,” she said.

“Let’s scoop them up, get them trained and give them a life with a bit more choice.

“When you’re earning you’ve got choices in life and when you’re in poverty there are no choices, and certainly during the cost of living crisis, my target is to use every lever I’ve got to give people the skills to get better-paid jobs.

“Not everybody wants to go to university. Some will - and their contribution to our society is fantastic - but I think there should be a greater understanding from schools and colleges of

apprenticeships, T levels and internships. There’s lots of other ways to get in and get on, and it isn’t always about going to university and leaving home.

“Leeds College of Building has got its first female principal ever, and I recently had a great visit down there.

“I saw painters and joiners, and women who are coming into it later in life as well, so not just school leavers or grads, but women who’ve had families, and it’s a great job to come back into.

“It means you’re well paid, and it’s always regular work because there’s always work for trades.”

Karl Wiseman, regional managing director for Persimmon Homes, said: “Young people are absolutely vital to shaping the future of construction with apprenticeships providing a rewarding route to a wide range of exciting, varied and well paid careers. Construction is crying out for fresh new talent, now more than ever.”