Nick Roberts is Chief Executive of Travis Perkins and Industry Sponsor of the Construction Leadership Council’s People and Skills Network.
At its best, the UK construction industry is world-class. People around the world look to the UK and look to learn from us, whether it’s because of our engineering capability or the steps we’re taking to deliver sustainable, low-carbon solutions for the built environment. Construction is also a major driver of the UK economy, comprising approximately 8% of GDP and collectively employing more than 10% of the UK workforce, both large and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
But like many other industries, the UK construction sector faces significant skills challenges. We urgently need to expand the workforce and skills base if we are to provide the homes, hospitals and infrastructure our country needs and to continue to drive economic growth. This is no secret.
“Not spending the apprenticeship levy is a business failure on such a critical issue”
As the Construction Leadership Council’s Industry Sponsor for People and Skills, I had the pleasure of attending the government’s recent Skills for Growth conference to discuss how we could develop a fit workforce for the future. This event was part of the government’s drive to connect and engage business on the key issues facing us collectively.
As it stands, the construction and built environment attracts more than 170,000 people to work each year, but the Construction Training Board’s Construction Skills Network estimates that an additional 225,000 workers will be needed by 2027 to meet forecast demand.
As well as needing more workers, we also need to ensure that these workers have the right skills to deliver a modern, net-zero construction environment, which is a complex challenge in itself. Despite its deep and far-reaching importance to the UK economy, UK construction productivity has not kept pace with other industries and we desperately need to upskill current and future generations of workers.
So what does it take to address the skills gap?
A new road map
The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) recently launched a plan that puts collaboration first and outlines how the industry could deliver skilled workers through aligned priorities, including developing future skills, expanding pathways into the construction sector and transforming industry culture.
First, we aim to promote new types of skills that will support the transformation of industry to enable the UK’s net zero ambitions to be met. The plan commits to developing a net zero industry roadmap and achieving a 10% increase in net zero training by 2025.
We are also committed to enhancing the routes under construction. As an industry, we need to improve learning starts and improve training pathways to support continuation, completion and progression. The plan aims to increase apprenticeship starts by a further 5 per cent.
It is also vital to get people into the sector as early as possible, so we are setting out an ambitious plan to expose all schoolchildren across the country to the prospect of a career in construction by creating 600 construction ambassador engagements and experiencing first-hand the vast and varied career opportunities that exist by undertaking more than 28,000 trial sessions. Simply put, I want all teachers, parents, carers and students to think of the construction industry as a place where creative, interesting, fulfilling and well-paid careers can be built for everyone, no matter where you started in life.
Doing your part
Government alone cannot make the necessary changes. There is a lot that employers can do. A good start would be for employers to use 100% of the apprenticeship rate. Not spending the tax is a business failure on such a critical issue.
But no single company or organization can solve this problem. SMEs are the backbone of our sector and if we want to close the significant skills gap, we need to ensure that SMEs have every opportunity to train and retrain their workers. It means that collaboration between companies is key. This includes working together, through organizations such as the CLC, to identify where staffing gaps are and put in place actions to fill them. The CLC Skills Plan is the first step to achieving this.
For the health of UK industry and the economy, it is crucial that we work together to close the skills gap.
