Akbar Zaman, Redrow

I actually got into bricklaying by chance through an open day and ended up really enjoying my craft and as such stuck with that route. I was doing Level 1 and Level 2 [bricklaying] at Bucks College Group in Aylesbury and did this for two years.

Well, my first year of college I did accounting and finance but hated it. So, when I went to my college opening day, I tried out everything and fell in love with bricklaying and have never looked back.

I love building in general, but with bricklaying, I love building people’s homes as it is heartwarming to know I am contributing to helping people build their own memories in a new home.

It’s been great! The site manager is really nice, helps me out a lot.  The brickies there are top brickies and have taught me a lot. They have been putting me through my paces making sure I get the most out of my experience.

100%. There is no doubt that you should get out there and do an apprenticeship. Getting that industry experience – it’s just the best way to learn in my opinion. The getting paid aspect is just a bonus on top of all of the learning benefits that come with this opportunity.

My short-term goal is to finish the apprenticeship and gather as much experience as possible in order to make sure I use the apprenticeship well. In terms of my long-term future, I would love to be a project manager or even a site manager. If that doesn’t happen, it would be great to have my own gang of bricklayers and run my own business.

I had never been on site before, but the site manager was welcoming, and the other bricklayers were great to work with when I first started. 

I really enjoyed the learning experience especially with Redrow as they are incredibly inclusive.  Whilst it was a challenging start, the way in which Redrow works means that I have felt welcome. There are a lot of different people on site, whether that is women or ethnic minorities, I was treated with respect as is the case with everyone else which is great to see.

I have been really lucky to work on stone houses which is valuable but also rare for someone of my skill level. This is a completely different brick and therefore it has been valuable that I have been able to learn as there are very few bricklayers who are able to work with stone. This is one of the great aspects of Redrow and the opportunity I have had.