Careers
Building the next generation: apprenticeships at Eastledge
Forty years in from a Derby yard, the dedicated team is still what Eastledge is built on. As the business grows into a busier retail and education pipeline, we are recruiting apprentices to build the next generation of commercial interiors fixers.
Published 5 August 2026
Eastledge has operated from one Derby yard since 1986. The business is forty years old, the team has tenure measured in decades, and the single-base model has kept delivery consistent across a pipeline that now spans education, retail, healthcare and industrial clients across the UK.
That team is the business. Not the systems, not the accreditations, not the order book: the people. A directly-employed workforce, mobilised from Alvaston, who have built the skills and the working knowledge that main contractors come back to programme after programme.
As the pipeline grows, particularly a strengthening retail programme and a solid education backlog, that team has to grow with it. And the starting point for that growth is apprentices.
Why the trade needs apprentices
The commercial interiors sector has an ageing skilled workforce. Experienced fixers with thirty years in the trade are at or approaching retirement age. The industry as a whole has under-invested in training pipelines for the better part of a decade. The consequences of that are visible: rotating subcontract labour, quality variation between sites, programmes where finding a skilled and reliable crew is a genuine procurement problem rather than a routine appointment.
Eastledge's operating model is built on directly-employed labour. There is no rotating agency pool, no remote-managed subcontract network. That model produces the consistency that main contractors value. But it can only sustain itself if new people are brought in and trained properly.
Apprentices are not a nice-to-have at Eastledge. They are how the dedicated team keeps existing.
What an apprentice at Eastledge actually does
Day one is on site alongside experienced fixers. The learning is practical and immediate: how ceiling grids are set out, how tiles are measured and handled, how partition walls are framed and built up, how dry lining is boarded to specification. Safety training and CSCS card support are provided. Tools and PPE are supplied.
The work is genuinely varied. College refurbishments in occupied buildings, retail shopfits to tight trading-calendar deadlines, industrial and healthcare programmes each with their own technical demands. The breadth of the programme is what builds well-rounded fixers rather than operatives who know one system in one setting.
Who we are looking for
No prior experience is required. That is the whole point of an apprenticeship. What matters is genuine interest in a practical, finishing-trade role, reliability, and a willingness to travel UK-wide with the team.
The role is open to applicants aged 16 and over. All travel and hotel expenses are covered when working away from the Derby base. In-house training and mentoring from experienced fixers and supervisors begins from day one. The progression pathway from apprentice to improver to fixer to supervisor is a real one, not a theoretical promise.
Parents and guardians are welcome to enquire on behalf of under-18 applicants.
Apply, or share this on
The full role details and application form are on the apprentice role page. If you have experience and are looking for a ceiling fixer or hygienic cladding installer role rather than an apprenticeship, those are also live on the careers page.
If you know someone who might be a good fit for an apprenticeship in commercial interiors, this is worth forwarding on. The trade needs the next generation coming through, and one referral can start that.