FOUR young trainees from Poole have beaten off competition from more than 200 applicants to claim a place on property maintenance firm Novus Property Solutions’ national apprenticeship scheme.

Callum Osborne, Cohen Goodgame, Thomas Pearce and Tom Pullen will soon be starting their work-based painting and decorating apprentice placement with Novus, based at the Branksome Business Centre in Poole, where they will learn their trade along with 15 other eager young apprentices at sites across the country.

As part of the application process, shortlisted candidates were invited to take part in Novus’ apprentice selection week, including a community makeover day in Stoke-on-Trent, close to the company’s head office.

The aspiring apprentices worked to transform a plot of waste land as they removed graffiti, installed planters, removed rubbish and overgrown plants on a busy walkway and repainted a bridge joining both sides of the Trent and Mersey canal.

Neil Hand, current joint managing director at Novus, appreciates more than most how vital apprenticeship schemes can be, as he joined the firm as a painting and decorating apprentice himself at the age of 16.

He said: “The quality of applicants this year has been higher than ever before and I’m sure the successful apprentices will have a great career ahead of them.

“When I joined the company over 30 years ago, I never thought I would become the joint MD, but it’s testament to the support network provided by the company that I was able to do so.”

Novus Property Solutions, which now employs more than 1,000 people from 30 offices across the UK, has a long history of supporting apprentices, having run the current scheme for more than 75 years.

It offers apprenticeships in trades including bricklaying, plumbing, plastering, carpentry and joinery, painting and decorating and maintenance.