Pictured: Redrow graduate Tom Marsden
A graduate from Nottingham is one of six promising trainees to
have been recruited by Redrow Homes as the company looks to find
tomorrow's stars of the housebuilding industry.
Through its graduate training programme, the housebuilder is
keen to ensure it is once again recruiting the brightest and
freshest new talent into its ranks.
Step forward construction management graduate Tom Marsden, who
has just begun a placement at Redrow's offices at Tamworth.
The high intensity graduate training programme offers
participants the chance to take on responsibility at an early
stage, with the intention of developing them into future company
leaders. It is a 15-month programme during which graduates spend
time working in each key department of the business on
rotation.
Tom, 22, who graduated earlier this year from Nottingham Trent
University, said: "There aren't many graduate schemes on offer
within the industry and competition is tough for every place. I'd
researched Redrow thoroughly before applying and thought their
graduate scheme looked extremely thorough so I was delighted to be
taken on.
"It's an intensive programme and I've already spent time with
the land department and I'm now in technical. It's great to work
for a company that is so focussed on developing talent for the
future."
The graduate recruitment drive follows the reintroduction of the
company's under-graduate placement scheme last year and a major
influx of new apprentices.
Richard Beadsmoore, training manager at Redrow, said: "This
intensive training programme is designed to give our graduate
employees the best possible platform upon which to build their
careers. It combines training, evidence gathering, project work and
demonstration of competence to ensure they are well equipped to
take on a prominent role within the firm later.
"Every successful candidate faced a challenging recruitment
process, which included a written application, telephone interview,
assessment day and final interviews with divisional managing
directors.
"It is our hope that all six graduates will remain with Redrow
for many years and progress towards positions of responsibility
sooner rather than later."
To kick start their tenure, the graduates took part in a two-day
induction at Redrow's national headquarters in Ewloe, Flintshire,
followed by a tour of one of the company's flagship
developments.
Redrow builds around 2,500 new homes annually across England and
Wales, with an emphasis on traditional, detached family housing
from its New Heritage Collection. The company directly employs more
than 900 people and provides employment for thousands of
sub-contractors on its housing sites. With its own purpose-built
national training centre in Tamworth, Staffs, and more than 13,000
training hours delivered to staff each year, the UK housebuilder
has one of the best training records in the industry.
Tom and the rest of this year's graduate intake can take
inspiration from others who have stayed with Redrow and risen
through the ranks. For example, Sarah Cooper, aged 32, became
finance director of two Redrow housing divisions earlier this year.
She joined Redrow 10 years ago after graduating from Keele
University with a degree in economics and finance and began as a
graduate trainee in the finance team at Redrow's headquarters in
Flintshire.
She said: "When I joined Redrow as a graduate trainee all those
years ago, I hoped that one day I would be a director of the
company; now that I am it is a fantastic feeling.
"The graduate training programme was an excellent introduction
to the business and gave me the opportunity to study for external
qualification - I'm now an Associate of the Chartered Institute of
Management Accountants (ACMA) - as well as participating in a range
of in-house training programmes. These included an excellent
management course which covered elements from a wide variety of
subjects normally outside my sphere of operation, such as human
resources, employment law, assertiveness and time management. It's
all helped to equip me for my new role."
So far during 2011, Redrow has also recruited seven
under-graduate one-year work placements and 24 new apprentices.