A Derby construction firm boss says he is avoiding potential staffing problems caused by Brexit thanks to a new academy which trains young people.
Earlier this year, Ian Hodgkinson, director of Pride Park-based Hodgkinson Builders, co-founded the Access Training Construction Academy, which is London Road.
The academy teaches young people a range of construction skills, including bricklaying. It was set up following the collapse of 3aaa, which ran the National Construction Academy in Derby.
According to Mr Hodgkinson, the new academy is producing a steady stream of skilled workers.
He said: “Most construction firms are being affected by Brexit from a resources and staffing point of view. Many are struggling with the lack of tradespeople coming from Europe - Hodgkinson Builders are certainly not!
“Our academy is providing the much-needed skilled workforce that we require. From our 100-strong bricklaying workforce, 22 of those are a direct result of our training and academy, which is a testament to its success.”
According to Mr Hodgkinson, the academy’s success has spurred his company on to a “fantastic” first six months of the year.
In that time, the firm has laid the foundations for 168 new homes - and has been trialling a new way of working to speed up the build process.
Among its recently announced projects is a scheme to build 16 homes at Butterley Hill, in Ripley.
Consisting of two and three-bedroom homes, the site will be made up of affordable housing built on behalf of the Waterloo Housing Group and is expected to be completed by March 2020.
Mr Hodgkinson said: “Hodgkinson Builders is going great guns at the moment. We have just completed a fantastic first half of the year.
“We have trialled the use of timber frames and liquid screed to speed up the efficiency of the build process at our development in Stoke - and we hope to roll this out over at our site in Ripley.
“By using modern methods of building we can work on both the interior and exterior of a property at the same time, and the use of liquid screed means that several plots can be done in one day, which is phenomenal. We are building homes so fast that we are running out of land.”
According to Mr Hodgkinson, turnover at the business currently stands at record levels.
He said: “The success of the business is fully down to the innovative ideas of our team, combined with the passion of the original directors and the senior staff recruited form major house builders.
“We are in a fantastic position with the forward order book and with our current developments in Stoke, Ilkeston, Ashbourne, Eastwood, and Worksop.”
