Local company wins Powys award for prioritising staff training

A construction company, whose vision is “building our future, together”, has added a Powys Business Award to its growing list of accolades.

Pave Aways Ltd won the People Development Award, sponsored by NPTC Group of Colleges, at the annual awards ceremony held at The Hafren, Newtown on Friday, October 20.

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Organised by Mid Wales Manufacturing Group (MWMG) with support from sponsors, the coveted annual awards, which began in 2009, are open to companies, organisations, social enterprises and charities.

Pave Aways Ltd, which has an office in Newtown, says its 83 employees are its most important asset and the foundation stone on which successful and sustainable business has been built.

Prioritising training is essential in recruiting and retaining staff who are empowered to take the lead by choose their career path. Along with grant funding, the company invested nearly £89,000 on training employees in 2022 to build a team and attract and retain new talent.

By training a new generation of skilled workers, Pave Aways says it’s making a real difference in filling a recognised construction skills gap. Sixteen per cent of the workforce is either apprentices or trainees and the company is a member of the 5% Club, a national movement committed to investing in new talent.

Two new multi-skilled property maintenance apprentices and a carpentry apprentice were recruited in September and the company works closely with NPTC Group of Colleges to upskill its workforce.

The company, which achieved the Investors in People standard last year, has  revised its appraisal process to allow employees to have a say in their personal development and job-switch days allow them to shadow a colleague to better understand their role.

“Our commitment to developing the skills of our workforce is reflected in our staff retention rate - more than half of employees have worked for us for more than five years,” said Michelle Benjamin, Pave Aways’ training manager.

“We believe it is our culture of fostering skills and people development that sets us apart from other businesses.”

Receiving the award, Pave Aways construction director Jamie Evans said: “It’s a great award to achieve, especially as it’s our 50^th year in business. I live and work in Powys and this is recognition for all the work we have done in the county.”

Powys Business Awards judges said: “Pave Aways recognise that to drive their business goals they need to develop their people, yet this goes beyond the bottom line.

“Through a combination of training programmes, mentor support, focus days, away days and health and wellbeing support, they clearly demonstrate their commitment to developing people.”

The award runners up were CastAlum Ltd, Welshpool, Charcroft Electronics, Llanwrtyd Wells and Marches Business Group, Llandrindod Wells.