273 Esh Group employees have now achieved their NVQ Level 2 accreditations having stormed through a rigorous assessment of their skills, knowledge and practical application in what is believed to be one of the largest single training programmes in the region. Of the 273 employees who have qualified:

• 150 work for Lumsden & Carroll Construction
• 21 work for Deerness Fencing
• 34 work or Dunelm Castle Homes and
• 68 work for Dunelm Property Services

A further 42 employees are already working towards their qualifications and are due to complete their studies in the New Year.

The rolling programme started in March 2004 and involves all levels of site-based employees.  Assessments take place mainly on-site and in the workplace and seek to examine new learning, best-practice execution and to recognise time-served skills.  NVQ Level 2 is the equivalent of five A-C passes at GCSE level.

Brian Manning, Chief Executive of Esh Group, explained:

‘We are delighted with these achievements.  Taking up study again at any stage in life can be a real challenge – we are particularly impressed with the way our employees have tackled the courses.  These results are a real credit to them.

‘We are working towards having all of our staff qualified and we believe this will put us ahead of other companies in the construction sector.  Our training programme accredits employees for their Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card.  This is the sector standard which was originally introduced to get ‘quality up and accidents down’; it really sets apart those companies who are committed to continous improvement.’

Elements of the programme are being delivered by North East Construction Training (NECT), the specialist construction sector training provider which is part of Esh Group.  Based at Tursdale Business Park in County Durham, NECT undertakes a wide range of construction related training programmes for many companies throughout the Region.  Gordon Bennett, NVQ Training Manager at NECT, explained;

‘The four key qualifications these employees have achieved are General Construction Operations, Fencing, Bricklaying and Joinery.  The first two are delivered in-house at NECT and the latter two are delivered in conjunction with Sunderland College and Northumberland College.’

NECT is one of only five training organisations nationally accredited to deliver Fencing NVQ and the only such one between the West Midlands and Central Scotland.