Award Recipients

Lee Marley Group has been honoured by His Majesty The King for transforming social mobility through its award-winning apprenticeship and graduate programmes.

Founded in 1997, Lee Marley Group is one of the UK’s largest integrated masonry and scaffold specialist subcontractors, delivering brickwork, stonework and scaffolding for large-scale residential and commercial developments.

Operating from offices in London, Reading and Glasgow, the Group works with the UK’s leading house builders and construction companies, including Berkeley Group, Barratt Developments, Morgan Sindall, Kier Group, Wates and Vistry Group.

Apprenticeship programmes
Lee Marley Group has delivered brickwork and scaffolding apprenticeship programmes since 2014, working in partnership with colleges across the UK. The Lee Marley Academy was launched in September 2023 in partnership with London South Bank Technical College (LSBTC), in order to meet the demands of their successful training programmes and manage their cohorts in line with social value obligations, creating more capacity to support disadvantaged groups in the areas they operate.

The Academy delivers a brickwork apprenticeship programme that extends beyond standard industry provision, with increased classroom, workshop and on-site training time based on an intensive block-release model. The programme begins with a one-month paid work trial, giving candidates the opportunity to experience life on site before fully committing. Those who progress alternate between block periods of college-based learning, combining classroom theory and practical workshop sessions with hands-on experience at a live construction site.

Each apprentice receives a starter tool pack and PPE worth over £1,000, is paid from day one, and has pay reviewed at structured performance milestones. Apprentices who join straight from GCSEs can qualify as fully trained bricklayers before the age of 18, up to two years ahead of the industry norm. Many of the apprentices progress into senior roles, offering secure employment and ensuring a sustainable talent pipeline within the built environment.

Promoting opportunity and social mobility
Lee Marley Group’s programmes support a broad range of participants, including young people from low-income households, those from schools with below-average attainment, individuals with physical or mental disabilities, people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, and those at risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training).

• Approximately 47% of participants are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Around 40% are from BAME backgrounds.
• Around 20% are female (five times the national construction average).

Notable achievements include apprentice Morgan O’Sullivan, who became the first female national finalist in her category at the Guild of Bricklayers competition, and was recognised as Most Influential One to Watch, 2025 in Construction. She has since joined the Academy as a Trainee Tutor, supporting the next generation of apprentices. Mukthar Mohammed, another stand out apprentice, was shortlisted for the 2025 ABC Apprentice of the year award and came in second place in the Guild of Bricklayers London regional heat in February 2026.

Results that speak for themselves
The first Academy cohort completed End Point Assessments in 2025, with four apprentices achieving three Distinctions and one Merit. Across all programmes:
• Average assessment score: 40/50
• Attendance rate: 95%
• Expected employment rate post-qualification: over 90%

The programme has also been recognised by industry bodies such as The Construction Industry Training Board’s Head of Engagement, Danny Clarke, who described the Academy as taking “a holistic approach to learning” that “instils confidence and a strong foundation” for future careers. The National Federation of Builders also praised the partnership with LSBTC as setting “a new standard for apprenticeship delivery”.

Founded on personal experience
The programme’s ambition and success is rooted in the company’s origins. Lee Marley, the Group’s founder and CEO, began his own career as an apprentice bricklayer. His first-hand understanding of bricklaying and the construction industry as a whole has shaped the organisation’s values and ultimately led to the creation of the Academy, which was officially opened by HRH The Princess Royal in September 2023.

“Our apprentices are not just learning a trade. They are building a future. We started this programme because we know from experience that the right training, delivered properly, can change lives. Receiving the King’s Award is a tremendous honour and a recognition of every single person in our team who has made this possible.”
– Lee Marley, CEO, Lee Marley Group

“We are immensely proud of what the Academy has achieved in such a short space of time. This award belongs to every apprentice who has shown up, worked hard and proved what is possible, and to the incredible team who supports them every single day.”
– Dan Clarkson, COO, Lee Marley Group

Projects and awards
The King’s Award follows a period of recognition for Lee Marley Group’s dedication to excellence after previously receiving the Princess Royal Training Award in 2021 and 2024, and was most recently named 2025 recipients of the Association of Brickwork Contractors Commitment to Training and Development Award.

Lee Marley Group’s bricklaying expertise can be seen on projects across the UK, including the Defense National Rehabilatation centre in Nottingham and the Oval Village in Lambeth, where the company delivered both the brick and scaffolding works.

With a pipeline of projects underway in Tower Hamlets, Ealing and Westminster, Lee Marley Group continues to strengthen its presence across London, showing no signs of slowing down.

On a growing mission
Lee Marley Group enters 2026 in its strongest ever financial position with turnover expected to reach more than £100 million by the end of the year. The Group employs over 1,400 people across London, Reading and Glasgow, and anticipates growth of approximately 10% per annum.

Since September 2023, more than £500,000 has been invested into the Academy and apprenticeship infrastructure, including wages, training delivery, equipment, materials and pastoral support. Looking ahead, the Group aims to expand its outreach through school engagement, careers events and partnerships with local organisations, with the longer-term ambition of developing the Academy model nationally. Addressing the current labour disparity is also on the agenda for the award winners, with additional courses set to support entry level candidates looking to start a career in construction.