SIXTEEN year olds in Greater London who receive their GCSE results but have not a clue where to go from here could easily have what it takes to become big earners in the construction and building industry.

The opportunities for school leavers with even the barest educational qualifications to go on to a successful career in the building sector are as high as a New York skyscraper – so long as they show aptitude and are prepared to knuckle down and work hard.

John Laing Training, an offshoot of the mighty social housing specialist John Laing Partnership, accepts candidates from Ealing on free courses to learn trade skills at training centres in Edmonton, Hackney and Newham.

"Anyone can train with us so long as they want to learn," said managing director Mark Lunn. "There is no minimum educational standard. We select trainees by interview. The only proviso is that those from places like Hillingdon and Uxbridge have to cover their own travel expenses to get here."

Up to 1,100 trainees a year complete the rolling 26 week programme which includes training in plastering and joinery, bricklaying, painting and decorating and plastering and dry lining.

Those who have not done well academically receive coaching in English, Maths, IT and interview techniques to plug the gaps in what they missed out on at school and improve their chances of getting an apprenticeship with a good firm or a university place on a degree course.

Following the latest initiative instigated by the company, each graduate trainee now emerges not only with rudimentary trade skills but also as a qualified first aider.

Instruction in first aid in the workplace has become part of the standard syllabus.

The efforts of John Laing Training will be applauded by London companies struggling to find the labour to meet their workloads.

Figures from the latest survey by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) for the three months from April to June showed more than half the firms in London which contributed to the report (56 per cent) had difficulties with recruitment.

Almost as many (52 per cent) had problems finding subcontractors, particularly plumbers and heating and ventilation engineers.

"The high percentage of builders reporting difficulties recruiting skilled labour is limiting the amount of new business that some are able to take on and increasing pressure on existing workers, compounding an already difficult situation," commented the FMB's regional director Laura Hayes.

As the Construction Industry Training Board points out, those who make a success of a career in the construction industry can not only look forward to making loads of money. They can work abroad, start up their own business, work with their hands as well as their brains and they will not be stuck in a boring nine-to-five job in an office.

TEENAGER Mark Darling (pictured above) didn't see the point of staying on at school to take GCSEs – so he left a year early.

His mum Gloria had heard about the trade skills course at John Laing Training and gave the office a ring.

To cut an inspiring story short, the 16-year-old Londoner became a star trainee and now he's apprenticed to a painting and decorating firm.

Gloria said: "The whole family can see how much enthusiasm he has for his work."