Reality show promoting apprentices up for TV award

A reality TV show featuring apprentices at Hodgkinson Builders has been shortlisted for a top television award.

Brickies is a six-part documentary series, which follows a team of young builders at the Pride Park-based firm.

First aired on BBC3 last Easter, the show is set to return this spring on the BBC’s flagship channel BBC1.

In the meantime, Hodgkinson Builders is hoping to secure glory at the forthcoming Broadcast Awards, after Brickies was nominated in the Best Multichannel Programme category.

Ian Hodgkinson, founder and managing director of Hodgkinson Builders, said: “The real reason we agreed to do the show in the first place was to hopefully encourage more young people to take up apprenticeships due to the severe skills shortage in the UK construction industry.

“The success of the show suggests we’ve done some good in that area. As far as we are concerned, just the fact we’ve been shortlisted means we’ve already won, whether or not we managed to clinch the top award.”

Brickies will compete alongside ITV’s Love Island, Big Zuu’s Big Eats, The Hunt for Bible John and Welsh language programmes Drych: Fi, Rhyw ac Anabledd and Ysgol Ni: Y Moelwyn.

The awards, which celebrate the best of British television, are due to take place in London, on Wednesday.

Ian said: “We could not believe it when we heard that not only are we shortlisted for a TV award, but we are actually up against the humungous Love Island.

“We know that Brickies offers something a bit different – so maybe it’s not quite the David vs Goliath contest that it might appear.”

Tina Clough, managing director of Poppy PR, which counts Hodgkinson Builders among its list of clients, said: “It doesn’t get much better than this, when one of your clients hits the headlines in such a massive way.

“Some people find Love Island quite shocking in places – but it’s not nearly as shocking as learning that a team of builders from Derby might actually outshine one of the nation’s best-known series.”