Ash Mahoney and Charlie Collison discuss hard truths of the trade

​​​​​​​Two-time Super Trowel UK winner, Charlie Collison, chats with Ash Mahoney, host of The Bricklaying Show, about his current work and experiences on site

The UK's fastest bricklayer, Charlie Collison, reveals that he's quite 'disappointed with work on site', especially with apprentices and site agents, and the kind of work they're doing. 

"It's been a rubbish year," he says. The site agents, he claims, are more interested in getting the dust off the walls rather than checking the quality of the work. "It's been horrendous." 

Lack of teachers in the trade is a big concern Charlie has about the future. "No one will want to teach any youngsters coming through. Because the rates are not going up. It's the same as five-six years ago, and the work they want us to do is twice as much." 

He adds that teaching youngsters is already a "pain", and if bricklayers aren't getting paid enough, why would they want the extra hassle of training newbies?

"I get a lot of messages from youngsters saying they're not getting any jobs. But the truth is that no one wants to take them on, as they are a hindrance." 

Charlie notes that colleges are not teaching them enough, which means they have to learn on the job - a task not many employers want to take on. 

Listen to the whole podcast here.