Top award winning construction firm’s investment in talent takes apprentice to the heart of Africa

Llanelli based construction firm Morganstone has taken their apprentices a little further afield to put their skills to the test.

Owain Phillips is one of the apprentices that took the once in a lifetime trip to Africa to carry out charity work. As part of a project led by Constructing Carmarthenshire Together, Owain and fellow apprentice Leighton Davies travelled to Kachumbala in Uganda to help build a grinding mill and food warehouse for a group of widows.

The construction would allow the women to process crops of cassava, a staple food in the developing world that can be processed for their families as well as for sale.

“To work with the local people was very humbling and I found they had very high skill levels. Although the heat made the work difficult we managed to complete the project in a fortnight and I am hoping to return to Uganda in January to work on another project,” said Owain, who recently received Carmarthenshire Construction Training Association Ltd’s (CCTAL) Shared Apprentice of the Year award.

After returning to Wales, Owain has now been promoted to Trainee Site Manager at Morganstone and is one of several management trainees looking to progress under the wing of this award winning construction firm.

“We are proud to work with CCTAL via its Shared Apprenticeship Scheme and support apprentices like Owain, whose character building experience in Uganda can only benefit him,” concluded Ian Morgan, Managing Director at Morganstone.