Ridgeons builds employees' environmental awareness: Training partnership benefits construction merchant and college

Abstract

Purpose

Describes a partnership between UK timber and builders' merchant Ridgeons and Cambridge Regional College (CRC), which is helping both organizations to meet the demands of new legislation and a rapidly changing construction industry, especially in the areas of building materials, techniques and renewable‐energy systems.

Design/methodology/approach

Explains the background to the partnership, the form it takes and the benefits it has brought to each organization.

Findings

Details how Ridgeons' trainees benefited from the program through increased confidence and the ability to advise customers in the area of sustainability. For CRC, staff expertise has been enhanced providing the competence to develop and deliver a range of courses related to sustainability.

Practical implications

Reveals that Ridgeons sales fell by 4.6 percent in the recession, but for plumbing and heating, which the program was aimed at, sales increased by 5.6 percent.

Social implications

Describes an award‐winning partnership that is helping to improve environmental awareness in the construction industry.

Originality/value

Highlights an ongoing and mutually beneficial partnership with two‐way knowledge and skills transfer.

Citation

(2011), "Ridgeons builds employees' environmental awareness: Training partnership benefits construction merchant and college", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 17-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/09670731111101552