A WELLINGBOROUGH-BASED, family-owned roofing business has been named as one of the Top 50 apprenticeship employers in the country.

Moulton Roofing’s remarkable track record in training roofing apprentices was recognised by the government this week at a celebratory lunch held at the Houses of Parliament in London.

Moulton Roofing is owned by Robert and Kay Finch, and Kay attended Parliament on 12 September 2023 for a reception lunch at the House of Lords.

As a 2023 Top 50 SME Apprenticeship Employer, Moulton Roofing is recognised as an outstanding apprenticeship employer. The award acknowledges the company’s commitment to creating new apprenticeships, the diversity of their apprentices, and the number of apprentices who successfully completed their apprenticeships to become fully qualified as roofing slaters and tilers. The rankings are produced annually by the Department for Education who independently assess and rank the nation’s top apprenticeship employers.

In total, Moulton Roofing has successfully trained 37 roofing apprentices over the years, with 17 currently employed by the company at various stages of completing their apprenticeships and another six school leavers planned in the pipeline to be taken on this year.

Mentoring Apprentices

And the secret of Moulton Roofing’s success employing apprentices? Kay Finch says the biggest contributor to a positive apprenticeship experience is pairing the apprentice with a qualified tiler who will mentor them.

Kay (pictured above, right) explains, “Pairing apprentices with a mentor who is already qualified and experienced gives them one-to-one learning on the job. It can take up to around six months for the apprentice to become genuinely useful to the tiler, some more, some less.

“Our tilers welcome the apprentices as any extra contribution they make is a plus. If the apprentice is good they can make a big difference.”

But it’s not always obvious who will make a good apprentice, Kays explains. With their long experience as apprentice employers, Kay and Rob, together with Contracts Manager son, Jordan, will look for youngsters who take instructions well with a good attitude and willingness to work, as well as being physically strong and mentally adept enough to do the demanding work of roofing.

Sometimes in the UK roofing industry employers can be reluctant to invest in training their roofing workforce for fear they’ll face increased pay demands or lose roofers to competitors.

That’s not the case for £4.5m turnover Moulton Roofing, which employs 40 people – everyone of which is working towards or qualified to at least NVQ level 2 and has a gold CSCS card. Rob Finch says, “Employing apprentices has helped us to expand over the past 15 years.

“I’m passionate about roofing and I want my company to be the best it can be. I like things right, that’s why I’m so committed to training all our employees.”

Celebrating as a Top 50 SME Apprenticeship Employer, Rob Finch adds, “From our little company we’ve helped the industry grow and I’m proud of that.”

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