A restoration project worth more than £22,000 has been completed to transform the iconic Merchants House in Glasgow back to its former glory in order to welcome more visitors through its doors.

Leading Scottish construction company, City Building, has been highly praised for its work to transform an historic part of the Grade A listed Merchants House in the heart of the city. A team of six skilled workers, including three apprentices, led by Operations Manager, George Cramb, conducted careful restoration and redecoration of the Director’s Room, Ante Room and vestibule at the Merchants House building, which was completed in 1877.

Young apprentices from Glasgow are helping put the finishing touches to the SSE Hydro ahead of the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships €“ one of the biggest sporting events ever to be staged in the UK.

With just days till the action gets underway, around 30 apprentices and tradespeople from City Building have been hard at work constructing the field of play perimeter wall, gymnasts’ entrance tunnel and judges’ table dividers in the SSE Hydro.

Scotland recently celebrated Apprenticeship week. Alan Burns, Divisions Manager for City Building, explains why the event serves as a reminder to the construction industry for the need to have a continued commitment to delivering structured apprenticeship schemes that will help address the emerging skills gap and identify future leaders.

There have been reports for some time of a skills gap in the construction industry where talents like bricklaying, steel-fixing and concreting are in short supply. One way of addressing this loss of skills is to encourage more young people to consider an apprenticeship as a career route.Quality Apprenticeships can help people progress and succeed and they can help businesses create the skilled workforce they need to compete in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Leading Scottish construction company, City Building, has rewarded the tradespeople of tomorrow at its annual Apprentice Awards, which took place on Tuesday 16 June.

Around 180 apprentices across all sectors of the business including, construction, administration, heating and lift engineering were shortlisted for the awards, which were hosted by Radio Clyde DJ Diane Knox (Knoxy) at the City Chambers in Glasgow.

23 awards were handed out at the event which saw 4th year apprentice painter and decorator Lee Raeburn named City Building Apprentice of the year.

City Building has secured a prestigious European award for its commitment to deliver excellence throughout its organisation.

Quality Scotland, national partner of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) an organisation for driving performance improvement, presented its Committed to Excellence award to City Building. The award is presented once a year in recognition of companies that strive to reach sustainable excellence in the private, public and non-profit sectors.

During the assessment process to be considered for the award employees from all across the company took part, from apprentices to the executive director. Participants carried out a number of exercises such as understanding how effective the company’s deployment strategy is, looking at current strengths and opportunities and establishing a baseline position to measure progress over time. Following a number of assessments and interviews with managers and focus groups City Building secured the award for the first time.

Leading Scottish construction firm, City Building, welcomed Annabelle Ewing MSP, Minister for Youth and Women’s Employment, to its RSBI facility this week as the firm highlighted its continuing commitment to encourage women to take up careers in the construction industry.

During her visit Ms Ewing met with a number of female apprentices and tradespeople who shared their experiences of working for the company.

City Building has played a leading role in supporting women to take up careers in the construction industry, with the most recent figures from Skills Development Scotland (SDS) showing that the company is responsible for employing a quarter of all female construction apprentices in Scotland.