PERSIMMON has announced that it is looking to recruit 225 young people.
The new jobs will be spread across the builder's 24 regional businesses in England, Wales and Scotland and include 125 bricklaying and joinery apprentices, 50 trainee sales advisors and 50 graduate/trainee technical staff.
Chief executive Jeff Fairburn, 47, began his own career at the age of 17 on a Youth Training Scheme in the construction industry and many of the current directors in the business also began their careers straight from school.
He said: "We work hard on our training programmes and enjoy sharing our knowledge with young people and progressing them through the business. You never know, one of these young people may be our future chief executive in years to come."
The firm says that its findings show that young adults have negative expectations of apprenticeships.
"Although there has been a positive increase in the numbers of young adults now starting their career as an apprentice, our research shows that there are still overwhelming numbers of 12-to-18-year-olds across the UK who are unaware about apprenticeships or have misconceived perceptions about the benefits they offer.
Jeff says: "My own experience of starting work at 17 has been a positive one. We're delighted to be giving young people the opportunity to join us."
Visit www.persimmonhomes. com/jobs.