What does investing in training actually look like in practice? For Wallen Concreting, it looks like a fully qualified team, award-winning recognition, and a business built to last.
Jodie and Martial Wallen have made BCITO qualifications a priority for everyone on their team, and that focus has paid off in ways that go well beyond the tools.
Read their story to find out how training shaped their business for the better on bcito.org.nz/news
BCITO’s Trade Secrets is coming back to Ashburton!
Connect with Māori and Pasifika employers and apprentices who are already making it happen in the building and construction industry. The BCITO team will also be on hand to answer any questions about how to get started with your apprenticeship.
📍 Ashburton College, 27 Walnut Avenue, Allenton
📅 Wednesday 10th June, 6.00pm - 8.00pm
➡️ Register at tradesecrets.nz
Dinner is provided, so come hungry and ready to connect with your local community. Tag your whānau, register and come through.
The results are in! Meet New Zealand's best flooring apprentices.
Last Thursday in Auckland, BCITO and Floor NZ celebrated the stars of the flooring trade at the annual Flooring Industry Apprentice Awards. From Stage 1 through to the Supreme Award, these finalists and winners have shown incredible skill, dedication, and passion for their craft.
🥇 Scott Cato Supreme Flooring Apprentice of the Year: Scott Hines, Flooring Xtra Wellington
🥇 Apprentice of the Year (Stage 1): Ryder Brown, Spencer Flooring Ltd
🥇 Apprentice of the Year (Stage 2): Christian McNabney, Spencer Flooring Ltd
🥇 Hayden Mckenzie Memorial (Stage 3): Scott Hines, Flooring Xtra Wellington
🥇 Villars Most Improved Apprentice: Jack Smith, Custom Hardwood Flooring Ltd
🥇 Planning & Design Trainee of the Year: Kathryn Johnston, Flooring Xtra Te Awamutu
🏢 Wayne Young Employers Award: Spencer Flooring Ltd
Congratulations to every finalist, winner, employer, and training advisor. This is what the future of flooring looks like.
Congratulations to BCITO apprentice Nic Casey on winning the Otago regional heat of the NZCB Apprentice Challenge!
In April, Nic went head-to-head with three apprentices at Otago Polytechnic, completing an eight-hour build of a pataka (community sharing cupboard), judged down to the last millimetre on workmanship, accuracy, and safe practice.
We're incredibly proud of you, Nic. Next stop, the national final!
What an incredible way to wrap up our final Girls in Construction Tour!
A huge thank you to @breen_construction for co-hosting and welcoming students from across the Queenstown area to Tewa Banks, where they got a real look at BCITO’s 16 different trades in action.
Students also got hands-on experience at Breen’s Trade Base and heard from Emma, a qualified painter and decorator at M R Group, about the doors an apprenticeship with BCITO can open. The message from today? Just give it a go 👷♀️
Thank you to Wakatipu High School, Dunstan High School and Mt Aspiring College for attending.
Meet the incredible woman leading our next Women in Trades workshop.
Cat Valentine is a Workplace Conflict Specialist and Accredited Mediator at Ripples, with a career built around helping people navigate tough conversations with confidence and clarity.
Cat is bringing that expertise to "Tools for the Job," a session built around real on-site scenarios, giving you the language, strategies, and confidence to handle moments on-site.
Free, online via Zoom, and only one hour of your evening on Tuesday 26 May from 6:00-7:00 PM.
Open to apprentices, employers and the wider industry. Register here: witworkshops.rsvpify.com
500 students. 20+ schools. 100+ Pacific professionals. One powerful day.
The Navigators of Tomorrow Pasifika Careers Expo in Tauranga reminded us exactly why we do this. Our Pasifika rangatahi are ready, talented, and hungry for opportunity.
BCITO was proud to be in the room for it and show them what a career in the trades could look like.
See you all next time!
50 years. 31 apprentices. 11 supervisors. What did Martin learn? Train your people.
Martin Goulden, of Martin Goulden Building, has seen it all, and his message to the industry is clear: if you want the best skilled workers, grow them yourself.
Read his full story at bcito.org.nz/news 🔨
Our Girls in Construction Tour kicked off in Dunedin and it did not disappoint 🙌
Huge shout out to @mosgiel_itm for hosting us and organising @makitanewzealand to do a live tools demo, and getting the girls to build their very own planter boxes. Brooke from ITM also organised an epic shopping challenge where they had to guess the trade 👌🏼
And to @workforcecentraldunedin for arranging a site tour at the new hospital build.
Finally, a thank you to @queenshighschoolnz@taieri_college_international and @otagogirlshigh for showing up. This is what it’s all about 👊🏼
Queenstown you’re up next! 👉🏼
We are super excited to let you know that applications for Mana Whakatipu Mana Tangata are now open.
Happening in October, it’s four days in the Abel Tasman, built around growing your leadership skills in a te ao Māori setting.
Hear it straight from Regan himself. He attended last year as an Apprentice Leader for carpentry, he’s now a qualified builder and leading sites for @jc.construction.nz . Regan’s proof of what investing in leadership can do for your career.
If you’re a BCITO Māori apprentice and are near completing, get in touch with your Training Advisor and get your application in now!
Trade Secrets Pasifika is returning to Blenheim!
Last year we welcomed nearly 100 young people through the doors to explore what a career in the trades could look like for them.
Come along with your family and meet the people who can make your apprenticeship happen - BCITO Training Advisors, Pasifika apprentices, and Pasifika employers, all in one place.
Dinner is provided, we can’t wait to see you there.
📍Event details:
Blenheim, Marlborough Youth Trust - My Space
18 Kinross Street
Wednesday May 13th,6pm - 8pm
Register at tradesecrets.rsvpify.com
Mitre 10 Trade Hamilton was proud to host the Waikato regional heat of the @nzcertifiedbuilders 2026 Apprentice Challenge!
As the second largest regional heat in the country, 11 apprentices took on the challenge of building a Pātaka, also known as a sharing cupboard, within eight hours. Working from detailed plans, each build tested a wide range of carpentry skills and attention to detail.
The event was hosted at Mitre 10 MEGA Te Rapa, chosen as a fantastic venue to support an event of this scale. It was inspiring to watch so many motivated apprentices put their skills to the test and take their own approaches to the final build.
Better still, every Pātaka will be donated to a local community group chosen by the apprentices.
A big congratulations to our winner, Pascal Gisler, who takes home a @makitanewzealand prize pack and will represent the Waikato at the National Finals in June.
Mitre 10 Trade Hamilton - Proudly supporting our local trade community.
@mitre10nz@bcito@nzcbwaikato
