Order a sample

You can order up to 3 free sample tiles.

We'll aim to deliver your sample order within 5-7 working days from your order date.

Highlights From Our College Tour For National Apprenticeship Week

This year was the 15th annual National Apprenticeship Week! A time to highlight the positive contributions that apprenticeships make to the economy and wider society.

National Apprenticeship Week Tour

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week our Technical Training Manager at The BMI Academy, Mat Woodyatt, toured the UK to meet with young apprentices and college tutors.

On the tour, Mat visited colleges from Devon to Dundee to share best practice advice, explain standards, showcase virtual reality training technology, and discuss new products. Here are the highlights of Mat’s tour, the colleges, and the apprentices.

Kicking Off The Tour

The first day of the tour took the BMI Academy to South Devon College, where Mat delivered a tailored CPD session on interlocking tiles to the apprentices. He covered the correct installation and discussed the product portfolio of interlocking tiles for a full overview of roofing options.

Mat’s second stop on day two saw him visit Construction College Midlands where he delivered a CPD session on two of our leading BMI Redland components, Uni-Vent Rapid Ridge and Hip and our Dry Verge system, talking through common mistakes when fitting these systems.

Many of the apprentices at the Construction College Midlands were particularly interested in the Kro Clip as it was new to them, and the apprentices were keen to understand how it could help them get that second fix on difficult to install tiles.

Touring Across The Country

The third stop of Mat’s tour took him to Juniper Training in Walsall. Impressed by the new training facilities, Mat explored their training needs for the year ahead and talked through the product portfolio.

On the third day of his tour, Mat visited Bolton College and Leeds College of Building. During his time there he talked to the apprentices and tutors about the importance of mechanical fixing and following manufacturer’s installation instructions as well as the move from wet bedding to dry fix in the industry.

The Final Stages

On his penultimate destination of the tour, Mat stopped by Newcastle College where the apprentices had been installing Cambrian and DuoPlain tiles and were keen to talk about their installation experience. Mat inspected their Cambrian rig in the yard, donated by BMI Redland, and went through the correct installation process for the apprentices.

In total, Mat visited seven colleges across five days and spoke to many passionate apprentices and tutors across the UK!

Jump to section

What Did Some Apprentices Say?

“I love learning new skills and new techniques. All the fixings that we spoke about, that was completely new to me, so that was great.”

Nathan, Apprentice at Construction College Midlands

“Learning new things every day, new experiences, the different types of materials we can use, all the different types of fixings. Everything to do with roofing you learn here and I’m just loving it.”

Bax, Apprentice at Bolton College

What did the Tutors have to say?

“What makes my job easier is having really good college support. BMI Redland have been working with the college for a good few years… all the colleges around the UK couldn’t survive without this support, especially from BMI.”

Jay Lewis, Senior Lecturer at Newcastle College

“Manufacturer support, from companies like BMI, is absolutely crucial to what we do… It really allows us to prepare our students for the future and deliver training to a much better standard.”

Luke O’Gorman, Roofing Lecturer at Bolton College