A shopfloor assistant at one of the UK’s leading builders merchants has completed his apprenticeship – a few months before turning 70. Terence Archer, who works for Selco Builders Warehouse in its Crayford branch, achieved a distinction in his Level Two Retailer working with training provider Realise. The achievement is
An MP and a prominent local councillor have visited a soon-to-be-opened Liverpool builders merchant to learn more about regeneration and job creation in the city. Peter Dowd, Member of Parliament for Bootle, and Councillor Marion Atkinson, Sefton Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, were welcomed to Selco Builders Warehouse,
One of the UK’s leading builders’ merchants will resume its online service to tradespeople on Wednesday. Selco Builders Warehouse’s 68 branches and all its delivery services have been closed since the UK officially entered lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak on Monday, March 23. A decision has now been taken
Selco Builders Warehouse is planning an expansion programme that will enhance its presence over the country, with the opening of eight new outlets and the creation of 400 new jobs this year. The branches in Solihull, York and Milton Keynes have already been opened and the ones in Leicester, Chelmsford,
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
A shopfloor assistant at one of the UK’s leading builders merchants has completed his apprenticeship – a few months before turning 70. Terence Archer, who works for Selco Builders Warehouse in its Crayford branch, achieved a distinction in his Level Two Retailer working with training provider Realise. The achievement is all the more remarkable as Terence, who turns 70 in April, left school with no qualifications at 15 and has now made the grade in English and Maths as part of his recent studies. Terence, who completed a carpentry apprenticeship 50 years ago and speaking as part of National Apprenticeship Week, said: “It just goes to show you are never too old to complete an apprenticeship. “I’m really proud of myself because I pushed out of my boundaries to achieve this. “I’ve only been in retail for two-and-a-half years and wanted to learn as much as possible to be as good at the job as I can. “The opportunity to complete an apprenticeship came up from Selco and I jumped at the chance. “Part of the qualification was to achieve functional skills in English and Maths which I didn’t achieve at school. “I also had to learn a lot of new IT skills from pretty much scratch and that was difficult. “There were many times when I wanted to give up but my trainers at Realise were brilliant at helping me through the tough periods and keeping me going. I’m very glad I got to the end and achieved a distinction.” Terence – who was a carpenter and then became a general builder – completed his apprenticeship as part of Selco’s Rising Stars programme which is designed to help colleagues upskill and progress their careers. As part of his Bronze Rising Stars qualification, Terence completed 16 modules including business management and brand reputation, customer and communication, product and services, stock and merchandising and team and performance. He added: “I started at Selco because, after I retired from building, I got bored sitting around at home and wanted to keep busy. “I never dreamt at that stage I would do an apprenticeship but I’m so glad I have and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. “I would encourage anybody thinking of doing an apprenticeship – whatever their age or occupation – to go ahead with it. It’s extremely rewarding and, for people far younger than me, can be crucial in them enhancing their careers. “If I was a few years younger, I would certainly do another one but I think that’s me done for now.” With hundreds of trade brands always in stock, Selco’s 72 branches are firmly focused on helping tradespeople complete their jobs as quickly and effectively as possible. As well as offering trade services, Selco also has a strong digital presence including Click & Deliver, a Click & Collect services.
An MP and a prominent local councillor have visited a soon-to-be-opened Liverpool builders merchant to learn more about regeneration and job creation in the city. Peter Dowd, Member of Parliament for Bootle, and Councillor Marion Atkinson, Sefton Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills, were welcomed to Selco Builders Warehouse, based on Mersey Reach Park. The new branch is due to open on Monday, April 12 and will create at least 30 jobs in the local area. The politicians were keen to visit the new Mersey Reach Park, which promises to breathe fresh life into the former home of the Peerless Edible Oils factory on Galgate Drive in Bootle. The site is made up of six industrial units, a filing station and a drive-thru coffee shop, with plans for further units in the pipeline. Selco, one of the country’s leading builders merchants, occupies a 36,000 sq ft unit which will represent its 70th UK branch. Mr Dowd said: “I was pleased to look around the new Selco branch and see how it will operate. “I also managed to have a chat with a number of the staff who have been working in the warehouse since January in preparation for its opening in April. It was great to hear that most of the staff live within a short distance of the new warehouse, which is good for local employment opportunities.” Councillor Atkinson said: “It was a pleasure visiting Mersey Reach Park, especially seeing the end result of many years of planning and hard work with partners and Sefton Council. “Meeting the representatives of Selco and hearing them speak with such passion and determination, gave a real sense of confidence about the recovery journey ahead here in Sefton.” Once complete, the Mersey Reach Logistics Park will create up to 350 jobs and is estimated to have a £5.5m positive impact on the area. The Liverpool opening strengthens Selco’s presence in the north west, with the business already having four branches in Manchester and one in Warrington. Howard Luft, CEO of Selco, said: “It was a privilege to welcome our two guests to what will soon be our 70th branch. “We have been hard at work and we are now very close to cutting the ribbon and welcoming tradespeople to branch to help them with the materials and products they need for their day-to-day jobs. “Mersey Reach as a whole is a fantastic project creating hundreds of jobs and opportunities for people in the local area, which is needed now more than ever.” Mersey Reach Park was recently acquired by Northwood Investors. With hundreds of trade brands always in stock, Selco’s UK branches are firmly focused on helping tradespeople complete their jobs as quickly and effectively as possible. As well as offering trade services, Selco also has a strong digital presence including Click & Deliver, a Click & Collect service and a new website. For more information on Selco visit www.selcobw.com
One of the UK’s leading builders’ merchants will resume its online service to tradespeople on Wednesday. Selco Builders Warehouse’s 68 branches and all its delivery services have been closed since the UK officially entered lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak on Monday, March 23. A decision has now been taken for Selco to re-open 42 branches to support the delivery of online orders – through Click & Collect and Click & Deliver – only. No customers will be permitted to enter branches and other social distancing measures will be in place for collections and deliveries. Any collections will be made from the car parks of those branches that are open. Chief executive Howard Luft said: “It’s been an incredibly difficult period for the whole country and it’s been no different for us at Selco. “We have been monitoring events and government guidance extremely closely and now everything is in place to enable us to offer our customers a revised service, while closely following the social distancing guidelines. “We are fully aware our customers offer a vital service to the communities in which they operate, providing essential maintenance and repairs to properties, and we are delighted we can once again begin to make at least part of our usual offering available to them. “The health and wellbeing of our customers and colleagues remains our No 1 priority.” Opening hours at those Selco branches opening will be limited to 7am-5pm, Monday to Friday. All branches will be closed at weekends. Customer numbers will be managed through collection time slots to collect their orders, to ensure that social distancing can be maintained. Howard added: “We would urge only people who have pre-ordered products and materials to visit branches – and then only at the time they have been allocated. “We will constantly monitor operations in all of our branches which are re-opening and make adjustments as and where we see fit. “We will provide a further update on the remaining 26 branches which remain closed in due course.” For more information on Selco visit www.selcobw.com The full list of Selco branches opening is: York, Ardwick, Leeds Elland Road, Coventry, Baguley, Stirchley, Tyburn, Tyseley, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Nottingham, Cardiff Hadfield Road, Swansea, Bristol Filton, Cricklewood, Kingsbury, Ruislip, Hanger Lane, Southall, Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Camberley, Reading, Slough, Isleworth, Chessington, Poole, Southampton, Walthamstow, Barking, Tottenham, Romford, Thurrock, Chelmsford, Charlton, Catford, Old Kent Road, Sidcup, Croydon, Sutton, Wimbledon, Redhill.
Selco Builders Warehouse is planning an expansion programme that will enhance its presence over the country, with the opening of eight new outlets and the creation of 400 new jobs this year. The branches in Solihull, York and Milton Keynes have already been opened and the ones in Leicester, Chelmsford, Leeds and Bristol are set to follow. Each new branch will create 50 jobs, which are a combination of management, in-branch and delivery positions, marking the fastest expansion period in the company’s history. “Selco has undergone huge and rapid growth over the last five years, rising from 34 branches in 2014 to 66 by the middle of 2018 – and the plan is for that to continue. As well as having an exceptionally strong base in London and around the M25 corridor, we are focused on strengthening our presence in other areas of the UK,” said Howard Luft, chief executive of Selco Builders Warehouse. “With each branch opening, our recruitment policy has always been to employ people from the branch’s local community and that will continue. We pride ourselves on giving people genuine career opportunities, recruiting for a wide variety of positions and roles, with the chance to climb through the ranks at Selco,” he added. Selco’s branches across the UK are focused on helping tradespeople complete their jobs as quickly and effectively as possible. As well as offering trade services, Selco Hire and a café in branch, Selco also has a strong digital presence including a 30 minute Click & Collect service and a free Project List app which allows tradespeople to plan, manage and quote for all jobs through their smartphone. “Selco Builders Warehouse is enjoying fantastic success, which is particularly pleasing given the tough economic conditions that have faced the building industry in recent times. Our approach is focussed, our commitment to tradesmen is paramount and we ensure we offer genuine trade prices, huge availability of products in branch and always put our customer first,” concluded Howard.
