Construction is a vital contributor to the regional economy.

And it’s set to increase in importance with a number of projects either in development or planned.

The Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset is the largest construction project in Europe. Four thousand businesses in the south west are registered to work on the project and, by 2020, there will be £200m of spending each year in the local economy.

Public housing is another key area of regional growth, with the south west set to buck the UK trend and grow at 3.7% to 2021. Plus, the government’s pledge to build 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, will also impact the region.

However, these developments – and issues such as Brexit – have highlighted a significant problem: demand is outstripping supply of skilled workers. In fact, a shortage of construction workers faced by small and medium-sized businesses has hit its worst level on record.

With over 20,000 new jobs being created in the region up to 2021, action is needed.

At Weston College, we’re taking the bull by the horns by developing a purpose-built Construction Training Centre This £3.8m project, which adds to our already comprehensive range of construction training courses, is based just off Junction 21 of the M5, and is due to open in spring 2019.

It addresses the shortage of infrastructure construction skills, and targets three areas where the shortage is at its most acute – plant operations, scaffolding, and groundworks.

But what makes this centre unique is that it’s geared towards fulfilling genuine commercial need and to providing training on demand.

Over the last decade, we’ve built strong relationships with employers to develop our apprenticeship provision. And it’s become increasingly apparent that commercial organisations want training at the point of need – not just for school leavers during the academic year.

Once the new centre is up and running, employers can come to us at any time for short courses, top-up courses, and to up-skill staff who are taking on new roles. We’ll also provide apprenticeships in these new areas when they’re required.

School leavers are able to take advantage of the available training at Weston College at our existing centre at South West Skills Campus on Locking Road. The new Construction Training Centre will also allow us to provide bespoke training at short notice, and react to the realities of the commercial world.

What’s more, construction employers, trade organisations and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), who match-funded the project with some £3.3m through the Local Growth Fund, administered by the West of England Combined Authority, have all been fully engaged in informing the building design and offer.

But, as with any project of this nature, much of its success relies on the strategic partnerships it involves and we’re extremely fortunate to be working with highly professional, market-leading organisations.

We have a long-running relationship with Midas Construction, who are commissioned to build the centre. They understand the College, our priorities and how to provide the learning environment that students need. Midas are also a key member of the employers’ forum that drives the content of the new centre’s curriculum.

We’re also working closely with Simian Risk to deliver scaffolding training. We worked hard to identify a strategic partner for the centre and are delighted to be working with Simian, who are national leaders in the field of scaffolding safety, training and assessment.

For more information on the Construction Training Centre, please click here. 

Weston College is set to play a lead role in tackling the construction industry skills shortage by opening a brand new industry focused training centre.

The Weston College Construction Training Centre, based just off Junction 21 of the M5, will open in spring 2019 and represents a £3.8 million investment.

It will offer training in three key construction areas – plant operations, scaffolding, and groundworks.

As part of this initiative Weston College has partnered with scaffolding training and safety experts, Simian.

The new centre will increase the availability of Construction Industry Scaffolders’ Record Scheme (CISRS) scaffolding training in the South West. As with most construction trades, the scaffolding industry is currently experiencing a skills shortage and it is expected that the West Wick centre will assist in bridging that gap.

Established in 2005, Simian has cemented their position as industry leaders for scaffolding training and support services. Headquartered in Warrington, the firm now operates a total of four scaffolding training centres in the Midlands, North Wales (Llangefni and Wrexham) and Cheshire, with an additional Centre in east London opening in March 2019.

The new Weston Centre will deliver a large portfolio of CISRS scaffolding courses, which will include new entrant training (COTS), CISRS Part One and Two scaffolding courses, scaffolding Apprenticeships and scaffold inspection training.

Speaking of the partnership, Simian’s Managing Director, Simon Hughes said: “These are exciting times for Simian and we’re delighted to be playing our part in upskilling workers in the south west, as well as providing the opportunity for industry new entrants to obtain the skills and knowledge they need to build a career in the scaffolding sector.

“The increasing levels of UK housing and infrastructure investment mean that the current construction industry skills shortage needs addressing as a matter of urgency and as such, we’re proud to be making Scaffolding Apprenticeships and other vocational scaffolding training available locally in Weston, as this will provide new career opportunities as well as boosting the local economy.”

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive at Weston College commented: “Weston College has worked hard to identify a strategic partner for scaffolding training at its new Construction Training Centre. We are delighted to be working with Simon and the team at Simian who are nationally renowned as leaders in the field of CISRS accredited scaffolding training and assessment.

"The financial investment to build the Centre has been provided by the College match-funding a successful bid for funding from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Local Growth Fund, administered by the West of England Combined Authority.”

Chair of the West of England LEP, Prof Steve West, said: “We’re really pleased to support the fantastic new Construction Training Centre at Weston College. This will help to equip our current and future construction workforce with the skills they need to drive forward the building of new homes, business premises and infrastructure as our region grows. It will also help them to secure better career prospects and make the most of the opportunities available right here in the West of England.”

TLT are a UK law firm with six offices across the UK. We have over 1,000 staff and over 100 partners, 60 of which are leaders in their fields.

We are a growing firm – so are always looking for good people across a range of levels and areas of expertise who can support us in delivering an exceptional service for our clients. Opportunities vary from working in our specialist legal teams through IT and projects to marketing and HR.

One area where we have found a particular skill shortage is experienced Legal Secretaries. We believe this is a culmination of secretaries not moving jobs coupled with the role diversifying into either a PA focused position or document management/admin role.

One way in which we have combatted this challenge is by working with Weston College. We chose Weston College due to their reputation, location and the range of courses they provide. They currently support us with level 2 and level 3 apprenticeships within our volume business teams. The opportunities that they currently support with vary from apprentice office assistants to apprentice case handlers.

Over the last 12 months we have successfully recruited around 11 apprentices through Weston College on a range of level 2 and 3 apprenticeships.

Weston College offer us a range of courses to suit our needs across both legal and non-legal teams. We currently have apprentices undertaking level 2 and level 3 courses in business administration and customer services and are looking to expand our apprenticeship offering to other courses in 2019.

Weston College are also close to our Bristol headquarters and on hand to support with the recruitment and delivery of the onsite training required for each apprenticeship.

Since working with Weston College, we have seen a reduction in the time it takes for someone to start their apprenticeship. This has helped to get them up and running sooner, boosting our ability to deliver work for our clients.

We've also offered permanent positions to a number of our apprentices upon finishing their programme, which allows us to bring on staff with the skills we requires and make a long-term investment in their career with us.

We are able to attract a wide range of talent into the business from a variety of backgrounds by taking on apprentices. We feel that apprentices positively impact our business by bringing a range of skills, a fresh outlook and enthusiasm.

Rebecca Mitchell, Recruitment Business Partner, TLT