PERSIMMON Homes, the giant York-based housebuilder, has announced a big drive to tackle the skills shortage in the UK construction industry.

The group has committed itself take on more apprentices and graduate placements this year.

It means that the 14 apprentices already taken on at Persimmon House in Fulford, which covers Yorkshire, will be joined by six more.

They are among 350 Persimmon apprentices throughout the country whose numbers have already swelled by a further 400 as a result of Persimmon actively encouraging its contractors to participate in training. Graduate placements will also increase gradually over the next few years.

John White, group chief executive of Persimmon Homes, said: "The industry as a whole is clearly making headway in terms of attracting more young people to consider a career in construction. Persimmon continues to play an integral part in the campaign to raise awareness of the host of opportunities available via the launch of a comprehensive careers manual, a nationwide schools/colleges poster campaign, an internal apprentice awards scheme plus numerous local initiatives undertaken by each and every one of our 32 businesses."

He said that attracting people into the industry was only half the battle. "We've been speaking to careers advisers across the UK, who regularly find themselves struggling to convert that initial interest into a career path, often because of insufficient work experience and job placements.

"We hope that the extra apprentices and trainee managers in various departments at Persimmon Homes will go some way towards addressing this shortfall of initial steps on to the career ladder."

Updated: 11:51 Wednesday, August 18, 2004