Twm continues Jones Bros apprenticeship with hands-on experience at major tidal energy project10th Mar 2023

Twm Tudor is continuing his education with Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK onsite at a £36 million tidal energy project around 10 miles from his home in Anglesey.

The 19-year-old fluent Welsh speaker has started work as part of the Ruthin-headquartered company’s £23.5 million contract to build the onshore infrastructure for marine energy scheme Morlais.

Jones Bros is responsible for the construction of the landfall substation on Holy Island, as well as cabling which will connect the development to the National Grid.

Led by social enterprise Menter Môn, the project is set to provide the potential generating capacity of 240MW – enough to power around 180,000 typical households.

As part of the venture, Jones Bros and Menter Môn, are committed to creating local job opportunities and training apprentices.

Twm is one such student who is being given the chance of hands-on learning, with Morlais just 15 minutes from his home in Bryngwran.

As part of the higher apprenticeship course, run in collaboration between Jones Bros and Coleg Cambria, Twm is ready to get stuck in onsite after a block of classroom-based theory work.

He said: “It is a very exciting opportunity and one that I am relishing.

“Being able to work in the civil engineering industry in my local area is something I’ve always wanted to do.

“By starting on this project, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to progress my career by working with experienced civil engineers who are also from the area.

“I’m really looking forward to being out onsite and learning on the job.”

The former Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern pupil was made aware of the four-year higher apprenticeship course when attending the 2022 Royal Welsh Show in Llanelwedd, near Builth Wells in Powys.

He explained: “I was walking around the Royal Welsh Show, and I saw that Jones Bros was there.

“I told Jones Bros that I was looking for a job in the industry and that I’d completed my level three in construction, so an apprenticeship with the company seemed the next logical step.

“After talking to them at the show, I had a phone call, and a month later I had a place on the scheme.

“I’m really enjoying the apprenticeship, so it has proven to be a fantastic decision to join Jones Bros.”

Gerallt Llewelyn Jones, a director with Morlais added: “Benefiting the local community is extremely important to us, so it’s great to hear that the next generation of workers coming to work on the Morlais project are from this community.

“Jones Bros offer great opportunity for young civil engineers in North Wales, and opportunities that I hope will continue for years to come.”

Established in the 1950s, Jones Bros owns one of the largest plant fleets in the UK and employs approximately 500 people.

The company is currently working on contracts in various sectors including highways, flood and marine defence, waste management and renewable energy around the UK.

The company runs an award-winning apprenticeship scheme, which has produced nearly 50 per cent of its current workforce, with many of its senior managers having started out as apprentices or in a trainee role. It has recruited more than 100 apprentices during the past three years.