UK house builders have perhaps never faced so many pressures.
But far from saving every penny and waiting for clearer skies to emerge, many of the biggest businesses in construction are instead seizing the moment and investing wisely in something that can help them today and tomorrow: training.
It’s a trend we’ve seen firsthand thanks to our role as the sector’s skills partner.
So why are developers, builders and subcontractors of all sizes choosing to spend now?
Riding the rollercoaster
House building has always been a highly cyclical industry, with development closely tied to broader economic performance and a ‘boom-bust’ dynamic.
Yet it’s not just the state of UK finances that drive the rollercoaster of newbuild delivery.
Policies and regulations, too, can have an outsized impact, as revealed recently by new research from Savills and Hallam Land.
According to their report, house building in England reached its highest levels during a period of “planning policy stability”, before dwindling due to “repeated changes” and “increasing complexity within the planning system” since 2020.
In a cyclical industry, however, the pendulum swings both ways – it’s less a question of if we’ll see an upturn in conditions, but when.
The bigger picture
Companies taking a long-term view, then, can remain confident in their future even if the immediate road ahead remains foggy.
And the ageing construction workforce – in which 34% of bricklayers are now at least 50 years old – means that the industry will require additional skills in the years to come no matter what.
It’s this stark reality that is driving more and more firms to act immediately, as opposed to putting training investments off until it could be too little, too late.
Knowing where you stand
So if you’re reading this and thinking about your own organisation’s talent, where to start?
The bad news is there’s no single silver-bullet solution that will transform your competencies and capabilities overnight.
Developing skills takes time as well as cash.
Fortunately, however, there’s good news too: we have so many popular skills services, we’re almost bound to have something that’s right for you.
Let’s begin by thinking about your current employees.
Are they performing as strongly as they could?
Is there a risk that their careers could stall, leading them to look towards other employers who may offer more opportunities to grow?
These can be tricky questions to answer, which is why we’ve developed Knowledge Explorer, our online tool to help you assess the current strengths and weaknesses of your teams as well as how they’re shaping up longer term.
It’s a perfect first step if you’re unsure what kind of training needs you have across your business.
Then once you know where you stand, you can consider upskilling your existing employees.
Our training courses cover a broad span of trades and build stages, with delivery options and detail levels that allow you to tailor your choices to your needs – and budget.
This might include face-to-face sessions over three days or short, affordable virtual learning that lets your people brush up on a particular subject every now and then.
The next generation
If you want to be prepared for when the pace picks up, you may also explore growing your team through apprenticeships.
And fortunately, our Construction Site Supervisor apprenticeship programme – delivered at purpose-built training hubs staffed by experienced experts – can get you site-ready talent in as little as 14 months.
We've already seen huge levels of interest, both from budding would-be site managers and the builders who take them on.
Ready when you are
But what if you’re still on the fence about training, hesitant about taking the plunge and committing your budget?
No problem.
Whatever the market is doing, there’s never a bad time to upskill your teams or improve your capacity.
We’ll be here ready when you need us – because like yours, our future’s built on skills.
