I was contacted on Thursday afternoon by Alex at Nordic Installations. After seeing the conversation on DGB around the future of our workforce, our industry’s perception within UK construction and apprentice’s roles in our future, Alex has kindly put his thoughts on these matters on screen for your Friday reading. It’s a great read, and is very relevant to the many issues our sector is facing right now.

I have recently placed all of our current staff on apprenticeships so that they can gain the correct industry recognised qualifications. During this process I have contacted local colleges so that we might speak with their students to highlight the possibility of joining our workforce.

Lately, I have read many articles detailing how the UK have an aging workforce, with fewer young people aspiring to achieve a career within the construction industry, let alone the fenestration sector. Recent research by a major home builder has concluded that career advisors are not relaying the information available in regards to entering the construction industry, and the potential to undertake an apprenticeship. There seems to be even less recognition for the fenestration industry. Largely, the other aspects of house building are covered by a college recognised qualification, which means these students will likely continue along these paths into their careers, rather than diverting into a field not included in their qualification. Businesses in our industry are relied upon and expected to recruit and train the next generation; if they fail to do so, we can expect the future workforce to only have basic knowledge at their disposal.

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Recently, there has been a large campaign set up by the government called ‘Get In Go Far’ which features apprentices from 12 companies. Not one of these companies are from the construction building industry, the adverts focus on mainly corporate companies with no insight into skilled labour. This type of advertising is great for changing the persona of apprenticeships, however it enforces the same mentality as our current career advisors within schools. The construction industry should be encouraging this campaign to show a broader spectrum of apprenticeships, so that there will be an equal acceptance between corporate and trade companies

Moving forward, we should be pushing for a fenestration course to be available within colleges, and careers advisors should be providing information on the possibilities available. It would be a simple task to draw up a syllabus for the course, as it has already been written by the GGF in ‘The Good Practice Guide for the Installation of Replacement Windows and Doors’. By following this guide, we would have a new generation of installers with the correct skill sets that are required for our industry to develop and thrive.

I would like to get involved with people in our industry that also see this as a growing problem, and want to make a difference by finding the right avenue to push this forward.

If you have any thoughts or would like to help please contact alex@nordicinstallations.com

We talked on social media and discussed how an industry that is worth more than music to the UK economy, how vital our products are within wider construction, how an industry worth over £5bn a year gets so little attention from the places that matter. For me, Alex is absolutely on the money here. And a point I have covered myself in posts previous. Our education system has to be the starting point for school leavers looking to get into a trade and the fenestration industry too. Without that, and partnerships with local and bigger companies working with the education system, I fear we won’t have much of a future workforce at all.

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