The company, which launched its apprenticeship scheme last summer, has just employed a second carpentry apprentice as well as offering on-going in-house training for staff who want to improve their skills.
“Quite simply we have decided to invest in the quality training of our own craftsmen because of the huge difficulties in finding the skills that we need,” said Oaq’s General Manager Mark Hambleton.
“The skills we rely on in this business have been used by craftsmen across Wales for many centuries,” added Mr Hambleton. “This country has a rich heritage of craftsmanship yet finding 21st century craftsmen is like looking for a needle in a hay stack.
“Oaq has been fortunate enough to enjoy a very steady work-load and the future of this business is looking very bright. But we need skilled craftsmen to build the oak-framed buildings that are our stock-in trade.
“We need the time-served carpenters to create the handsome oak-frame for extensions and garden rooms. But sadly the skills we need are in very short supply. That is why we made a conscious decision to invest in our future by creating our own apprenticeship scheme.
“However, there may be people out there who are part trained and who would be interested in doing some in-house training. We would be very happy to talk to them to see if there is a role they could play in Oaq’s future.”
Oaq craftsmen are currently working on a range of construction projects – both commercial and domestic - across Wales as well as in Cheshire and France.
For further information click onto www.oaq-ltd.co.uk or call 01745 584237
