Supply for the demand

ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry, is calling for more UK contractors to help stimulate a ‘spirit of apprenticeships’ throughout the sector’s supply chain. As part of its annual employer recruitment drive to encourage more businesses to invest in young people, ConstructionSkills is asking how the biggest contractors can use their considerable influence to demonstrate the value apprentices bring to businesses of all sizes.

New ConstructionSkills research has revealed that almost a third of companies have slashed their apprenticeship recruitment plans this year because of the recession. Following this news, ConstructionSkills is looking to top contractors to help foster a sector-wide sentiment that apprentices are good for business.

ConstructionSkills is looking to more large UK contractors to replicate this approach and open up the dialogue with their supply chains, instilling the ‘spirit of apprenticeships’ at the core of industry. With this in mind, Stephen Ratcliffe, Director of the UK Contractors Group (UKCG) reinforces how important large companies’ influence is on the supply chain: “It is extremely important that we work together to deliver the next generations of apprenticeships, and this is why the UKCG has recently established an apprenticeship task force to look at ways its members could work collectively with their supply chains to promote new entrant training.”

Mike Bialyj, Director of Employer Services at ConstructionSkills commented: “We desperately need to provide more employers for the would-be apprentices looking to start a career in construction. It is certainly a case of supplying the demand at the moment."

“There is a real need for more employers to take an apprentice on, but many of the smaller companies out there don’t feel that they have the capacity or time to do so. What we need is for smaller companies to understand the process of taking on an apprentice, what the businesses benefits are and how they can access help and support, both from us, and from larger companies.”

The failure to invest in apprenticeships now will mean severe skills shortages in the future. Many large contractors already actively choose to invest in smaller firms that share their corporate values, working cultures and commitment to developing talent. 

Carl Heslop, a special works manager and apprentice employer at national construction firm Morgan Ashurst, said: “Morgan Ashurst needs a robust supply chain and we’ve spent a lot of time developing ours to ensure that a wide range of different skills are covered by the firms we work with in order to produce the output we need. Apprentices are key to this and a very important part of our culture, so if companies want to work with us it’s essential for them to demonstrate that they share our values by taking on and developing apprentices.”

Mick Nelson, Works Manager at BAM Nuttall, said: “You’re not giving anything back by taking on an apprentice. You’re actually taking. Every company needs good people for it to prosper and you’re taking on a good young person, teaching them the skills that your company needs and the culture of the company. Unless you are investing in your future then it’s very hard to prosper.”

The discussion on why apprentices are good for business continues on ConstructionSkills’ YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/ConstructionSkills

To find out how ConstructionSkills could help your business grow, visit:www.cskills.org or contact your local ConstructionSkills office.

-ENDS-

For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact Victoria Cole on 0207 612 8953 or email Victoria.cole@kindredagency.com.

Alternatively, contact Jessica Hope on 0300 456 5407 or email Jessica.Hope@cskills.org

Notes to Editors:

The data contained in this release is based on the latest available figures supplied as of 2009.

About ConstructionSkills

ConstructionSkills is the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for the construction industry. As a partnership between CITB-ConstructionSkills, CIC and CITB Northern Ireland, we are UK-wide and represent the whole industry from professional consultancies to major contractors and SMEs.

Research is taken from ConstructionSkills ‘Employer Attitudes and Motivations to Learning and Training Wave 9’ carried out in 2009.

Established as an SSC in 2003, ConstructionSkills is working to deliver a safe, professional and fully qualified construction workforce through the industry’s Sector Skills Agreement. We are responsible for raising employer engagement in training, implementing industry-led skills solutions, securing appropriate funding, producing labour market data, and developing standards and qualifications that meet employer needs. 

ConstructionSkills is a well run and high performing Sector Skills Council, supporting a sector which is central to the UK economy, generating over 8% of GDP and a turnover of more than £210bn a year. ConstructionSkills is helping construction employers during the downturn and working to maintain skills so the industry can respond when the upturn begins.

About ConstructionSkills Apprenticeships

ConstructionSkills Apprenticeships operates through a network of regional offices and offers extensive training opportunities in close co-operation with employers. All off-the-job training for S/NVQs and key skills is subcontracted to colleges of further education and commercial training centres. All learners are employed and working towards S/NVQs within nationally agreed frameworks for their trades. ConstructionSkills Apprenticeships also provides benefits such as payment of college fees and apprentice travel and accommodation, as well as apprenticeship Grant.