ILKE Homes create “high-quality, precision-engineered” homes in its North Yorkshire factory.

Through the use of 3-D interactive technology, its homes are designed and manufactured to the highest standard for a variety of tenures and price points.

The firm, a contender for both New Business and Employer of the Year, is committed to training the next generation of skilled staff. Through building networks with schools, councils and groups, the business wants to inspire potential housebuilders and teach people of all ages valuable life skills.

They say: “We are building a workforce that reflects wider society and offers everyone a clear and exciting career path in this emerging industry. And diversity is key to that. The ilke Academy will welcome school leavers, ex-military, former retirees, and women, who are all currently hugely underrepresented within housebuilding. As such, the ilke Academy will create a substantial amount of new, well-paid jobs in Yorkshire, which has one of the UK’s highest relative levels of unemployment.

“This diverse group of trainees will form the next generation of housebuilders, fit to deliver homes at the scale the UK needs with the quality it deserves.”

Dean Lawman, a team member at ilke Homes, says: “Since arriving at ilke Homes and progressing through the ilke Academy two months ago, I really feel that my career has truly begun. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but every day is different and I always feel that I’ve learnt something new.

“Working within such an innovative and pioneering company is exciting, but it is the people that have made my time here so enjoyable.”