A CONSTRUCTION company director said training is the lifeblood of the industry as he was honoured with an MBE for services to apprenticeships.

Christopher Seddon, director of Seddon Group Ltd, was named in the Queen’s New Year Honours List for services to apprenticeships and the community in the North West through the Seddon Charitable Trust.

The family-owned and managed business, now based in Plodder Lane, Farnworth, was set up in 1897 by George and John Seddon in Little Hulton.

From its humble beginnings the business now delivers more then £160 million of building projects across the UK, employing nearly 800 people. Mr Seddon, whose three children now work for the business including Jonathan Seddon, managing director at Seddon Construction, said apprenticeships are a key part of the industry. The 72-year-old, who lives in Roe Green, Worsley, said: “Training is the lifeblood of the industry.

“We train for the industry, not just ourselves. A lot of our best people, not all, but a lot of the good ones are ones that we have trained up from being young boys and girls.”

Mr Seddon found out about the honour in November and is looking forward to attending Buckingham Palace for the first time with his family.

He said: “I’m very pleased and very humbled.

“It makes you feel that what you’ve been doing for 54 years with the company and the training that we’ve always done, the work we’ve done in the local area, the North West, it’s good that it’s been recognised.

“For me, it’s a reward for the company and the way it performs and acts.”

The Seddon Charitable Trust makes grants to organisations across the region and Seddon also undertakes voluntary projects.

Mr Seddon said: “It’s a charitable trust we set up a long time ago, which is something that’s there to pay into different charities around the North West.

“But it’s not just pounds, shillings and pence because you can do just as much by painting a gym or wrestling area, like at Bolton Lads and Girls Club.

“You can do it in kind. We do other work in the community.”