Skills

Mat Ilic is co-founder and chief executive of climate ed-tech firm Greenworkx, and a former special adviser at No 10 Downing Street The question of how to deliver a fair and equitable transition to net zero has been under the microscope in recent weeks following the UK government’s climate-policy U-turns.…

Michael Doolin is group managing director of consultancy Clover HR Addressing the UK’s ever-growing skills gap must be at the top of the next government’s priority list because a failure to do so would have a huge impact on the growth of the UK economy and the competitiveness of so…

Simon Barlow is the managing director and founder of Rye Demolition In today’s tough economic climate, it might seem strange to some to spend money on hiring new people, but for businesses of all sizes, especially within the built-environment industry, the acquisition of skilled labour is vital, not just for…

In the quarter before Covid hit the UK economy, there were 27,000 vacancies in the construction sector. That figure was almost 4 per cent higher than in October 2016, when Mark Farmer released his landmark report on the industry’s labour model, which warned of a potential “capacity shrinkage that would…

Making sure firms and workers are competent to carry out construction projects is one of the biggest post-Grenfell initiatives in the sector. CN investigates the progress to date In the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, Dame Judith Hackitt’s seminal report Building a Safer Future highlighted a construction industry that…

The further education (FE) sector has a role to play in addressing the retrofit skills shortage. But as MidKent College curriculum director Jane Le Poidevin (pictured) says: “The retrofit landscape is so challenging. I think the sector’s a long way from meeting some of its targets, especially in terms of…

Joanna Hunt is head of immigration at Fieldfisher Recent developments in the immigration sector have been a bit of a mixed bag for the construction industry. When it was announced recently that several construction roles would be added to the shortage occupations list to enable companies to recruit overseas workers…

Andrew Waddington is senior technical manager at Morgan Sindall Construction Given that teamwork, resilience and a strong work ethic are highly prized in the construction industry, it’s not surprising many employers recognise the value of recruiting people who have served in the armed forces. Morgan Sindall Construction is one of…

Danny Clarke is commercial director of the National Federation of Builders In a world where equality, diversity and inclusion have become central themes in discussions around the modern workplace, one facet often remains unexplored to the degree it should – neurodiversity. This vital aspect of human diversity, encompassing conditions such…

Decarbonising the nation’s homes requires an immense and multifaceted retrofit effort – but is the construction sector sufficiently skilled to deliver it? Keith Cooper investigates Turning tens of millions of homes green is a huge task for construction, and its workforce will play a pivotal role. But it’s a job…