The construction industry is on a recruitment drive to meet the government’s annual target of 300,000 new homes continuing until the 2020s, to which Chancellor Philip Hammond committed £34bn of funding towards training and building apprenticeship programmes in last Autumn’s budget.
Building levels are up 74% since 2014, when the credit crunch meant developers and building firms were firing rather than hiring. However, with Brexit uncertainty and a chronic need for new homes nationwide, boosting and maintaining a skilled workforce of circa 400,000 every year is paramount.
Driven by this, the construction industry is running showcase events to put a spotlight on job opportunities across the country.
Open Doors initiative giving access to live sites
Set up by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and Build UK, ‘Open Doors’ is now an annual event and this year will run from Monday 19 to Saturday 24 March 2018. Last year more than 130 sites were involved and received more than 3,000 site bookings. This year’s launch event is to take place at Multiplex’s flagship development – One Blackfriars, located on London’s South Bank, the residential tower will stand at 170 metres high when completed. Pupils from local schools and students from nearby colleges were included on the guest list to take a look around what will become another iconic landmark.
Participating partners in the scheme, which is hosted across England, Scotland and Wales, will offer members of the general public a unique opportunity to enjoy a guided tour and go behind the scenes at some of the nation’s newest and most exciting flagship construction sites.
This innovative concept is designed to promote awareness of the art of build and construction, to encourage young people to consider a career in construction. ‘Open Doors’ offers visitors a genuine insight into a variety of different jobs and skillsets deployed on a live site as a new-build project gets underway in their regional communities.
CITB announces new training scheme
This month, the CITB confirmed that from April it will begin a roll-out of a new training model and grant system. It hopes that this pioneering scheme will give SMEs easier access to training, whilst helping reduce the overall cost and administrative red tape.
