Preston’s College and Roccia launch Tiling Centre of Excellence

The largest independent tiling supplier in the north of England has joined forces with a Lancashire college to create a new Tiling Centre of Excellence for apprentices and employers.

The partnership sees Preston based retailer, Roccia, team up with further education provider, Preston’s College, to provide bespoke training for Level 2 Wall and Floor Tiling apprentices.   

The partnership has been developed to help bridge the skills gap between education and industry following a shortage of trained young people progressing in the tiling industry.

Apprentices will be based four days per week with their employer and gain tailored training one day per week from a Preston’s College tutor at Roccia’s on-site training facility using cutting edge, industry standard technology.

To kick-start the centre of excellence, Roccia have recruited six new local apprentices over the two year programme. Candidates looking to apply will need to be Maths and English exempt with a minimum of grade 4 at GCSE (formerly grade C) or hold a Level 2 Functional Skills qualification.

To help benefit the local economy, any other wall or floor tiling specialist looking to recruit a Level 2 tiling apprentice can also receive their training on a day release basis alongside Roccia’s recruits.

Talking about this unique partnership, Mark Taylor, Head of Construction & the Built Environment at Preston’s College, said: “Our new collaboration with Roccia will satisfy the high demand for skilled workers in the craft of wall and floor tiling across Lancashire.

“As the largest provider of Construction apprenticeships in the local area, it is critical to meet labour market demand and provide opportunities for young people to progress into the range of jobs available in the tiling industry.”

Yaseer Ahmed, Director of Strategy and Organisational Development at ROCCIA, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity to develop the next generation of tilers, with excellent earning potential, in a growing and increasingly technical industry.

“The students will benefit from some amazing placements and a state of the art tiling school. We are hugely proud to give back to the community and to sponsor and collaborate on this much needed initiative, and we wish all the apprentices well."

To find out more about tiling apprenticeships, please contact Preston’s College directly on 01772 22 55 22 or email training@preston.ac.uk.