Winners of the Building Controls Industry Awards were announced in May 2008. Organised by the Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) and the Building Services and Environmental Engineer (BSEE) magazine, the awards are designed to recognise truly outstanding accomplishments in the following areas -- technical innovation, engineering excellence, energy saving, service and achievement, training, sales growth, customer care, and employee motivation.

This year, the Judges’ Special Award focused on recognising a commitment to training for jobs in building. Sponsored by the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), the award celebrates the achievements of companies in their support for high-quality training. Only with practical and comprehensive training can the industry continuously generate a broad range of experts who can handle their building jobs professionally.

Trend Control Systems was acknowledged by the judges as having contributed considerably to the recruitment and training of apprentices for building services jobs. The company’s all encompassing “Attitude Apprenticeship Scheme???? provides young apprentices with qualifications and product training in order to prepare them for a successful career in building jobs. These skilled engineers also gain plenty of hands-on experience as they find employment from the company’s various partners in the building services industry.

In 2007, 47 apprentices were trained under the scheme and subsequently employed by the company and its partners. Assisted by BCIA, the company established a new National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) that is specific to the building services industry and meets the needs of the skilled engineers. Better still, in order to further benefit the whole industry, the company had committed itself to recruiting and screening potential candidates for all kinds of jobs in building. Hundreds of applicants were tested for their literacy, mathematical ability and commitment before attending a formal assessment day, when each of the company’s partners was given a chance to interview and choose appropriate candidates for suitable building jobs.

In 2008, a total of 77 apprentices graduated from the scheme. This result demonstrates the company’s achievement in meeting the needs of the building services industry by providing a means to train the right people for the right jobs in building. “I think that the scheme has had a benefit to the industry as a whole. In the past it has been common practice for other companies to poach apprentices as soon as they have finished their training. Now we are seeing more of a move towards a provision of training throughout the industry and we have been approached by a number of companies who would like to replicate the scheme within their own organisation,???? explained Jon Cooper, customer and international sales support director for Trend.

By winning the aforementioned Judges’ Special Award, the company has proved that its long-term efforts in providing and promoting training for building jobs have been worthwhile. In order for the industry to continue growing and to manage the demands of the future, it is important that more companies move towards implementing similar schemes to help attracting young people to train for building services jobs.