Round-up | NEWS
Celebrations over apprentice record for Howdens
TRADE KITCHENS giant Howdens has held a graduation ceremony to celebrate the record number of apprentices who completed its apprenticeship programme in 2022.
A total of 215 people completed their apprenticeships with Howdens last year, which the national retailer says is its largest number to date. The event was held at the NCC in Birmingham and was hosted by two former apprentices. Attendees also listened to talks from Howdens CEO Andrew Livingston, regional director Tim Mason and operations director Julian Lee. Howdens offers apprenticeship schemes across several areas of its business, including logistics, manufacturing, engineering and IT, across its network of over 800 depots.
According to Howdens, it has employed over 4,300 apprentices since 2009. As a result, one-in-12 Howdens employees started their career at the business as an apprentice and almost 80% of apprentice graduates remained in the business in a permanent role.
Howdens early careers manager Emma Leech added: “We are delighted to have been able to honour our apprentices at the graduation ceremony. At Howdens, we are very proud of the graduates and our apprenticeship programme. We know it is the ideal way to develop people and to prepare them for a happy, productive, and rewarding career.”
“Our commitment is to ensure our apprentices feel valued, secure, and in a position to make a long-term career at Howdens.”
VitrA makes big changes to board of directors
BATHROOM MANUFACTURER VitrA has announced two new appointments to its board of directors.
Amanda Raine (pictured left) is the company’s new marketing director, joining VitrA from Bristan. She has over 10 years of experience in the bathroom and construction sector and has also held previous roles with Travis Perkins and Wolseley.
She takes over the role from Margaret Talbot, who retired from the business earlier this year. The company says Raine’s new role will see her leading the brand’s strategic marketing objectives, as well as generating growth and developing relationships across its different customer groups. Raine said: “VitrA is an innovative bathroom brand with impressive design and manufacturing expertism. I am thrilled to be part of the next chapter.”
August 2023 •
Also joining the VitrA team is Sam Cooke (right), who will now be serving as the company’s retail sales director. The career move follows his previous role as director of sales at Davroc, as well as positions at Triton Showers, Israp, Vokera and Wolseley. Cooke is inheriting his role from Darren Paxford, who was in charge of sales for VitrA UK for 27 years. “Joining VitrA is a terrific opportunity to build on years of industry experience,” Cooke said. “I’ve collaborated with the team at VitrA for years through Davroc, so I’m delighted to be part of the brand’s future.”
7
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
