The City of Liverpool College apprentices help reinvest profits into local communities

Apprenticeship students from The City of Liverpool College working with the construction arm of Torus Group have been at the centre of an initiative to reinvest its profits into the communities it serves.  

Profits generated by Housing Maintenance Solutions Ltd (HMS), which is responsible for the repairs and maintenance of homes managed by Torus, enable the Torus Foundation to deliver a wide range of support. This includes community centres, employment and skills programmes, health and wellbeing initiatives, youth activity programmes, and financial and digital inclusion services.

At the beginning of the 2025/26 academic year, HMS recruited more than 30 apprentices covering a range of trades including gas engineering and electrical maintenance as well as enrolling those from The City of Liverpool College studying joinery, plastering, estimating and site management. The intake represents a similar scale of investment in the young people of the Liverpool City Region or those wishing to retrain and change career.

The College supported this recruitment with two full days of interviews at its Vauxhall Road Technology Campus which attracted more than 1,700 local candidates. Following a shortlisting process, 100 attended workshop assessments before the apprentices were offered their places. 

HMS has also confirmed that applications for another 30 apprenticeship roles will be opening later this year, for programmes which will start in the 2026/27 academic year, demonstrating the company’s commitment to support newcomers to the industry.

Apprentices within the wider Torus Group will also have the option to attend the College as they learn and work in such areas as its customer hub, safeguarding and domestic abuse support units and the Neighbourhood Officer team who work directly in local communities. Together, these services help tenants not only secure a home, but also thrive in a vibrant, supportive community. 

“We are proud to partner with The City of Liverpool College to train the next generation of people who will not only deliver essential maintenance to our homes but also support the development of new properties, supporting the UK government’s house building target. This opens up more opportunities for people to get onto the property ladder and also supports regeneration in our most deprived local areas,” said John Barrow, Managing Director at HMS. 

“As well as high-quality technical training, the College provides the professional skills needed to succeed in the workplace, evidenced by three of our plastering apprentices progressing in a national competition. This is an achievement that reflects both their talent and their commitment to delivering excellent service in the homes of our tenants. We look forward to continuing this strong and successful partnership,” he added.

“We are delighted with the progress our apprentices at HMS have made so far this academic year as well as the support which Torus give to them,” said Colin Salmon, The City of Liverpool College’s Director of Work Based Learning and STEM.

“Partnerships such as ours are key to addressing the critical skills shortages faced by the region and the country as a whole in construction trades,” he added.