‘Build, build, build’ has been the Government’s mantra to deliver the economic growth the UK desperately needs.
However, is the UK construction industry equipped to deliver what’s needed?
It’s estimated that the industry needs 250,000 additional workers by 2028 and the widening skills gap is putting major infrastructure projects at risk.
GM Business Growth Hub teamed up with BusinessCloud and key figures in the construction sector to discuss how Greater Manchester is responding.
BAM Construction, Bowmer Kirkland, Seddon Construction, Caddick Construction and Muse were among the companies to take part.
Visibility of pipeline
Annie Platts is the construction sector development lead at GM Business Growth Hub and said: “I’ve categorised the problem into four stages; The visibility of project pipeline for employer confidence, the attractiveness and awareness of the industry, the suitability of the training and then the retention within the sector. For us, it’s how the Business Growth Hub can be the conduit and the delivery partner within all that, because we’re working with the public sector, the businesses, and education, so it’s how we can better support the chain and bring it all together.”
Better education
Ian Hunter is the UK Apprenticeship manager at BAM Construction. He said: “We’ve still got the same problems that we had 30 years ago. Construction is still the second best career choice, but we need to try and get into schools. We don’t have a problem attracting applications but we’d like to do more.”
Spread the word
Joanne Taylor is the vice principal (Apprenticeships & Future Skills) at Hopwood Hall College in Rochdale.
She said: “I think that further education still has a perception problem with employers. I’ve not just heard it in this room, I hear it a lot and we’re working hard at Hopwood Hall to change that perception.
“Colleges and training providers really want to work with employers and do want to deliver in the way that you need it. Colleges are changing – they’re flexing their delivery model, they’re flexing the content of their apprenticeships and they’re very aware of the future skills that are needed within the industry.
“I would say that, from my perspective, what I need to do is go back and (work out) how do we communicate better? How do I get that out there all the bespoke training that we’re doing? How do I get that message out there so that you understand there’s a huge pipeline into the industry?”
Identify the gaps
Julia Hellyer is the group social value manager at Bowmer Kirkland and said: “We need to better understand where the skills gaps actually are within the construction industry – which trades and how to help to close those gaps. I think that we need to make technical education attractive. We need to make it sexy. We need to make it on par with A Levels and I think we need to do that by influencing parents and influencing career advisors and educators to understand, to bring that real world of what’s actually needed on site, into the classroom.”
Get into schools
Andy Jamieson, director of Jamieson Contracting, said: “We need to improve the image of our industry within schools in order to get the best talent coming through to colleges. After that, we need a good pipeline as an industry to know when we can actually employ people and give them long, full-time, meaningful jobs. It’s not just short-term six-month contracts.”
Join up the dots
Angela Mansell is the MD of Mansell Building Solutions and said: “What I think is interesting is shared experiences around challenges and training. If you join all the dots up from the people around the table, there really is an opportunity to collaborate and work together instead of just sitting here whinging about it.
Construction skills roundtable, held at Muse’s offices on June 10th, 2025
“There is an opportunity to get out there and follow up from this and maybe do things a little bit differently and explore the art of what’s possible with the chamber, with Hopwood Hall, with CITB, with Seddon (Construction) and the opportunity with all of their apprenticeships. We can learn and be open and try and challenge it in a different way, because my mantra is, there is always a way.”
Increase diversity
Laura Guy works at the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), which helps the construction industry recruit and train apprentices.
She said: “I would say that there’re four key areas to focus on. The first one being pipeline and not just relying on apprentices alone, looking at other new entrants. Increasing diversity, ex-offenders, ex-service leavers. Then increasing the capacity to deliver the skills that we need, because there is a bit of a mismatch with the supply and demand, improving retention and finally, improving achievement rates as well, because it’s not great in construction.”
Employer need to employ
Nicola Hodkinson is the director / owner of Seddon Construction, which recently received 2,500+ applications for just 20 apprentice roles.
She said: “I think the sector needs to have more confidence so they can start to directly employ. My whole premise on this is we spend a lot of money with CITB, we spend a lot of money around the table trying to navigate and employ. We can carry on doing all of those things but if we actually don’t have employers that are going to employ, then there’s no point in having your construction courses, because there isn’t a place for them to go.
“For me, we need a viable and visible pipeline, and that is a responsibility now for the customers. Stop diving to the bottom. Let’s start to see a little bit more profit so that we can start actually investing in that next generation, so that we’ve got R&D in people, not just in products, that we can actually do more about that.
“I think the Government needs to start incentivising employment, especially in our sector, rather than penalising it. When we came out of Covid and they were giving away £3,000 for every apprentice start, I was irritated, because it should have been an apprentice finish.
“I don’t know what their data was, because the starts went up, but I don’t know what their completions were like, but start to incentivise in sectors where we’re struggling.
“If we don’t have the construction industry, then the health sector fails, the education sector fails, you’re not going to get the housing so we are kind of at the core of lots of sectors. Start helping us to help ourselves, because at the minute, the industry is not doing it.”
Later life career changes
Tom Cadman is an associate partner at Baily Garner and said: “I think there’s clearly a disparity between what contractors’ needs and consultants’ needs are, and I think that needs to be reflected in whatever apprentice offerings there are. I think we as an industry need to think a little bit more diverse around how we can do that and not try to make it one size fits all.
“Angela made a fantastic point around collaboration and working together. The mood around the table is that the pipeline is really hindering contractors.
“We’ve talked around skill shortages, etc, but the conversation was very focused on apprentices. We haven’t necessarily looked at later life career changes. I appreciate this is only a micro part of the problem, but when we look at things like the retrofit challenge that we have to the existing estate, you can go away and you can do a retrofit co-ordinator’s course for £1,500 and then that is often seen as the way to transfer careers, but you don’t necessarily have that fundamental knowledge underneath.
“That’s just creating a problem down the line when they have quality challenges, so why can’t we take some of the great learning that we have got from apprentices and look at applying that to later on in life?”
Improve image
Paul Dodsworth, group managing director at Caddick Construction, said: “I think there’s definitely a place to work together a bit more and maybe about swapping apprentices if you’ve got too many, we’ve got too few. I think there’s definitely opportunities there.
“I’m interested to hear how colleges are changing and how they can better address the needs of employers. I think we need to stop impeding ourselves with the nonsense around the CSCS cards that’s driving out some really experienced people from our industry.
“I’m going to repeat what others have said around pipeline and having visibility of pipeline allows us as employers to make really good, solid business decisions, and that includes training, etc.
“Whilst I hear that there’s lots of people wanting to do college courses, I think we’ve got that image piece with teachers, with parents, with children themselves, and I’ll just reinforce that, as an employer, we must reaffirm our commitment to keep training.”
Grassroots
Renee Preston is a director at Gallaway Construction Ltd and CEO of Construction for Women. She’s active in reducing the skill shortage and runs three construction initiatives specifically for women.
She said: “My takeaway from today is definitely educating parents and that view on financial opportunities to support them coming through. Also, a very valid point is there are 157 career opportunities. It’s just about showing the youth coming through what those opportunities are and speaking their language.
“Also, I think there’s a lot of conversation around training. I’ve got 16-year-olds working on my site and they’re flourishing. I started on a YTS scheme. Years later, I went to university when it was right for me, but I started as a YTS. Not all people want to be students. We don’t all want to fit a square peg in a round hole. We can bring them through in a grassroots way and close that skills shortage.”
Retaining talent
Phil Marsden is the managing director of Muse North West and is responsible for leading Muse’s regeneration projects in the North West of England.
He said: “I’ve been really surprised, and I think it’s incredibly positive that there doesn’t appear to be an attraction issue into the construction industry at the grassroots level. The number of applications that are coming to contractors for apprenticeship schemes has really surprised me. I think that’s incredibly positive, because that’s an issue that I thought existed that doesn’t.
“The issue is about retaining that talent and upskilling that talent to deliver the types of buildings that this country now needs – more innovative, more sustainable buildings.
“We’re a business that specialises in partnerships and one of the things I’m hearing loud and clear from the room today is surety of the pipeline is a barrier, a big barrier for contractors to invest in that talent, to retain it and upskill that talent to do what we need to do.
“I take away that challenge actually, and I’m happy to carry on conversations about how we can change the way we procure, how we deal with contractors and supply chain, to give some more assurance over that pipeline that can hopefully help address some of those issues.”
Net Zero opportunity
Amy House is a director of the Green Economy and said: “I think that the climate emergency presents some opportunities. I think that the UK’s Net Zero targets and green infrastructure goals are driving a shift in how the construction industry approaches recruitment and training to address the skills gaps.
“I think that the retrofit revolution is creating demand for new high skilled, well paid jobs in the low carbon design, air tightness, construction, renewable integration.
“I think what’s really clear today is that these things, although they feel really positive, and they are demonstrating what is coming down the line, we still don’t have the certainty of the pipeline.
“A lot of the businesses that we support are one man bands, new entrants into the market. We work with colleges, we support them to get their CSCS cards, help them set up as a sole contractor, because it’s really difficult, and a lot of them don’t necessarily want to be a sole contractor. They don’t often finish a course and then want to run their own business. They don’t often have those skills. That’s where people like us come in to help write those plans for them and launch them.
“The reason why they’re doing that is because there’s a lack of employment opportunities out there. We exist to try and help those individuals set up as sole contractors, and then we struggle to get them onto supply frameworks and help them maintain work. I think it’s really key is how we unlock those opportunities.”
