Press Releases

BSS teams up with the Prince's Trust to encourage skills in construction

25 January 2010

Students from The Prince’s Trust get to grips with manual handling and fork lift driving at BSS Industrial’s distribution centre in Leicestershire

BSS Industrial has teamed up with The Prince’s Trust to hold a five week course for young people currently unemployed and wanting to gain experience of working in a construction-related industry.

As part of The Prince’s Trust ‘Get into Logistics’ programme (an introduction to the Construction & Business Services Sector), staff from BSS Industrial mentored a group of 18 to 25 year olds on interview and presentation skills as well as subjects such as time management and manual handling.

Frank Elkins, Managing Director of BSS Industrial and a member of the Construction & Business Services Leadership Group (CBSLG), said: “The aim of CBSLG is to encourage more young people into training programmes in construction and related business services industries, so it was the next logical step to use the expertise and resources we have to train a group of enthusiastic young people.

“At the end of the programme, each participant gave a presentation on their experience and the response was overwhelmingly positive. The students thrived off the sense of achievement and confidence that the course gave them, as well as being able to add crucial experience to their CVs. Supporting this development and capturing these skills at a young age are essential to the future of the construction industry.”

Linda Norville, The Prince’s Trust Head of Programmes in the East Midlands, added: “The ‘Get into’ programmes provide a real opportunity to help young people into work and can lead to apprenticeships on completion of the course. The support of companies such as BSS Industrial is key to improving the prospects of disadvantaged young people and we are extremely grateful for the support provided by everyone involved at BSS Industrial.”

BSS Industrial will be continuing to support The Prince’s Trust by holding further courses in 2010. For more information on BSS Industrial log on to www.bssindustrial.co.uk or call 0116 262 3232. BSS Industrial is part of The BSS Group plc, a market leading distributor to specialist trades.