APHC holds radio day with The Apprentice winner Joseph Valente Published:  23 March, 2016 On 11 March 2016, APHC teamed up with The Apprentice 2015 winner and APHC member Joseph Valente for a radio day to promote its latest research findings on attitudes towards apprenticeships and trade professions. Speaking on World Plumbing Day and just before the start of National Apprenticeship Week, Mr Valente drew on his experience as a former apprentice, plumber and now plumbing employer to provide his views on some of the key issues existing around apprenticeships and training in the plumbing and heating industry. Across the course of 13 individual radio interviews, including four with regional BBC stations, the Impra Gas founder discussed the benefits of learning a trade and the need for apprenticeships to be explored in schools as an alternative to higher education. John Thompson, chief executive at APHC said: “We’re delighted with the outcome of the radio day, which has been hugely successful in promoting our message about the many advantages of learning a trade and the need to dispel outdated stigmas around apprenticeships being the poor relation of higher education. We’d like to say a huge thank you to Mr Valente for doing such a great job of promoting the new research and for being such a great spokesperson for our industry.” Mr Valente will be speaking at PHEX+ on 18 May. Visitors to PHEX+ will have the opportunity to put their questions to Mr Valente and snap a selfie with the man himself after his talk. For more information and to book your free ticket, visit www.phexshow.com. Source link

A new report from Lloyds Bank has found that the ratio between city house prices and gross local earnings has hit the worst levels in eight years. According to the data, average UK city house prices have risen by 8% from £196,229 in 2015 to its highest ever level of £211,880 in this year. This has resulted in average affordability in the nation’s cities worsening in the last 12 months from 6.2 to 6.6 times gross average annual earnings; the third successive annual decline in affordability. The latest figures from Lloyds Bank also reveal a significant North – South divide. As expected, the majority of the least affordable cities are in the South of the country, 17 of the 20 – with only Lichfield, Leicester and York appearing in the Top 20 outside of the South. By contrast, all of the 20 most affordable cities for homebuyers are outside of southern England. Affordability in UK cities is, on average, now at its worst level since the average house price to earnings rose to 7.2 at the height of the last housing market boom in 2008. Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank Mortgage Products Director, commented: “House price rises in the past three years have risen more steeply than average wage growth, making it more expensive to buy a home in the majority of UK cities. This has also widened the North – South divide, as house prices in the South have generally seen stronger growth than in the North. Winchester has recorded the biggest gains over the past decade, whilst London, not surprisingly, has seen the largest growth during the economic recovery of the last five years.” Source link