The Scottish Labour Party leader hears how the apprentices are growing their skills and gaining valuable experience in the housing sector at Persimmon’s Castle Gardens development in Cambuslang.

Scottish Housing Day is about celebrating the impact that housing makes to the lives of people and communities across the country, and the theme this year centred on careers in the housing industry.

Mr Sarwar, who was joined by Labour’s candidate for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election Michael Shanks, met with four of the home builder’s record number of 45 apprentices across Scotland this year. The apprentices are undertaking a mixture of bricklaying, joinery, roofing and painting and decorating modern apprenticeship frameworks and include young people and adults upskilling – as well as four female apprentices.

During the visit, the Scottish Labour Leader also met with the Persimmon team to discuss the important role that apprentices play within the business, as well as the wider opportunities and challenges currently facing the housing sector.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar MSP said: “It was a delight to visit the Persimmon site in Cambuslang this week. From delivering affordable and social housing to training apprentices, it is clear that Persimmon is giving back to the community.

“With targets being missed and young Scots struggling to get on the housing ladder, it is clear that more must be done to deliver the housing Scotland needs.

“Scottish Labour would use the power of government to work with developers and local government to deliver the quality housing that we need here in Scotland.”

Chris Logan, Persimmon West Scotland managing director, said: “Apprentices are at the heart of our business and it was great to introduce Anas and Michael to four of our talented team. We’ve reached a record number of apprentices across our developments in Scotland this year and as well as increasing the number, we’re also working hard to improve the diversity of our apprenticeship programme.

“Scottish Housing Day is a welcome opportunity to recognise the crucial role that housing plays, both in society and our economy. There’s a huge variety of careers available in the sector and we’re committed to providing exciting opportunities for everybody within the communities we operate in.”

Persimmon’s Castle Gardens development in Cambuslang includes 57 homes that have been transferred to South Lanarkshire Council to help local people in housing need, as well as 386 private homes, ranging from two to five bedrooms.