Entec Design Ltd, based in Stockton on Tees, is celebrating three years of rapid development and a turnover of £7 million by welcoming its first ever apprentices to the team.
The Stockton-based full building envelope subcontractor was founded in 2015 and has taken on two apprentices from Hartlepool College of Further Education to support further expansion plans at the company.
Terry O’Brien, Managing Director of the firm, said: “Growth has been a lot faster than we all thought it would be.
“In the short three years we’ve been operating we’ve gone from zero to over £7m turnover and we’re currently planning to build the company to a point where we hope to reach over £10m per annum.
“The problem we’ve had with such a quick growth is we’ve struggled to determine just how many people we need within the business and have been recruiting after the gap appears. We’ve learnt our lesson and are now looking forward to the future, to bed people in early and know exactly what we need ahead of time and that’s where Hartlepool College comes in.
“We decided early on that whenever we were bringing people on board we needed them to be experienced, as we struggled to find the time to train staff effectively. But now that we have the experienced personnel in place we’re hungry to introduce younger blood.“
To fill the apprenticeship positions, Entec approached Hartlepool College of Further Education in order to find the right candidates.
Alan Clayton. Technical Director and a former student of Construction and the Built Environment at Hartlepool College, said: “We initially contacted Teesside University, and they suggested Hartlepool College. Obviously with my past at the College I thought it would be a great fit.”
Gary Riches, Head of Apprenticeships at Hartlepool College of Further Education, said: “Alan had provided a list of things Entec required and myself and John Cartwright, Head of Construction and the Built Environment at the College (CBE) sat down and agreed we could provide that.
“We invited Alan down to the College because, as an ex-student, I believed he might find it interesting to see just how much the College has changed since his time with us. I believe Alan liked what he saw, liked what he had on offer at the School of CBE and the relationship was built from there.”
The new apprentices are the first in a long line of apprenticeships for Entec Design Ltd as the construction subcontractor has already enquired about a further apprentice from the Hartlepool based training provider.
Hartlepool College of Further Education provides training for a number of prominent companies across the region, including Seymour Civil Engineering, Esh, Jacobs, Taylor Wimpey, Galliford Try and Gus Robinson.
