What does a CCF apprenticeship look like?

There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach here at CCF. We appreciate that opportunities within the construction industry are not limited to traditional site-based roles, and there are a wide range of hidden careers such as marketing, buying, management, HR, supply chain and logistics, and so much more. That’s why we offer a diverse range of industry apprenticeships and in doing so, we will hopefully encourage more people to consider construction as a viable career. This flexible approach also ensures we have the skills in-house to meet all of our customers’ needs at every stage. 

We provide training through LEAP (Learn as you Earn Apprenticeship Programmes) which offers tailored training designed to accelerate the learning of the new skills needed to sustain the construction industry for the future.

To date we’ve supported more than 150 apprentices through their training in the last two years at all levels of the business including our senior leadership team as well as across multiple roles such as branch, logistics and administration functions. And with a group-wide target set by Travis Perkins Plc of training 10,000 apprentices by the end of 2030, we’re fully focused on training apprentices at all stages of their careers.

Powering up our apprentices

Our role as a trusted partner that delivers expertise to our customers requires lots of talented individuals fulfilling a variety of tasks. The service that we provide across our nationwide branches is particularly important and is an area of our business that is really thriving through a number of active apprenticeships. 

These include Lucy, our branch sales coordinator from Crawley who embarked on her Level 2 Trade Supplier apprenticeship after leaving high school and Maja, our internal branch sales assistant in Portsmouth who has completed training as part of CCF’s very own  ‘Pursuit of Better’ apprenticeship’. This bespoke programme has been developed to give team members the knowledge and skills they need to become a great colleague within a branch and a stronger understanding of our customer base. After successfully completing her Level 2 qualification, Maja is now working towards a Level 3 Customer Service Specialist Enrolment Programme.

As a distributor, ensuring the reliable and timely delivery of products to our customers also means that our dedicated team of drivers have a vital role to play – and as a business, we are committed to supporting them with access to further training and development. Darren, our transport manager from Bristol, is just one of our team who has recently gone the distance and has completed his  Level 2 Urban Driver apprenticeship!

Our apprenticeships also move with the times so that we can support the development of new skill sets and a great example of this is Cameron, our first ever Digital Marketing apprentice. Cameron started his course just one month after joining CCF and after completing his apprenticeship in March 2024, now has all the skills he needs to further his career as part of CCF’s in-house marketing team. But as Cameron explains, the benefits of ‘on the job’ training have given him skills over and above what he expected.

Cameron explains: “I would whole-heartedly recommend anyone who is debating whether or not to start an apprenticeship to take the leap. My apprenticeship taught me so much about my role, but also helped me with skills not directly related to my job. From time management to making me more confident with public speaking, I learnt skills I can use in all different types of situations.”

Learning at work every week!

All of our apprentices are supported to balance their learning and development with their day to day tasks but this ethos also extends to all our colleagues, whatever stage of their career they are at. We promote life-long learning for all our colleagues by encouraging everyone to dedicate time to learning at work. 

This ongoing training programme is a crucial part of our commitment to keeping up-to-speed with changing regulations and other issues affecting our customers, which is why we also undertake regular specialist training whether this is via our manufacturer partners or industry bodies such as The Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP). 

Here at CCF, we are continuously developing our skills and knowledge so we can help support innovation across the construction industry and keep delivering first-class service to our customers week in, week out.

Keep up to date with CCF by following our LinkedIn page.