The head of East Midlands Property Alliance (empa) has called for small to medium sized companies to step forward to fill the growing skills shortage in the construction industry.
Alan Coole said the lack of specialist companies in the supply chain was of increasing concern for the sector, with a reluctance by many successful businesses to expand their operations.
He also pledged that empa would be working with SMEs in 2016 to help them grow and come up with new strategies to improve the way they do business.
Alan said: “Although there is certainly more construction work around than there was this time 12 months ago, this has created its own problems in terms of quality of staff and quality in the supply chain.
“It’s a double-edged sword. More work makes people feel positive, but delivery has been increasingly difficult. Particularly at critical periods, the lack of specialist companies that can make a project work has proved an issue.”
empa is a local authority-led initiative set up in 2008 to streamline the procurement and delivery of building work and property maintenance in the public sector.
Leading empa framework partners include firms such as G F Tomlinson, Ashe Construction, Robert Woodhead, Lindum, Interserve, Clegg Construction, Jeakins Weir, Morgan Sindall and Wates Construction.
The alliance operates across a range of sectors, from schools, colleges and universities to housing groups, care homes, leisure facilities and libraries – with some 465 projects worth an estimated £165m currently in progress.
Alan continued: “empa is trying to encourage more companies to be ambitious and to expand. A lot of small and medium sized operations prefer to stay the same size, they are a little scared of being burnt and they want to stay within their comfort zone.
“This can be a problem that affects any part of the supply chain. For example, mechanical and engineering companies – a lot of the bigger names disappeared during the recession and have not been replaced.
“empa is working closely with Chambers of Commerce and SMEs to help them become better at business and understand how they can expand and be better at managing the structural and financial side of their operations.
“We’ll be intervening and providing opportunities for consultancy to directly help them with growth.”
With around 160 different clients in the region, empa has had a massive impact in ensuring construction projects have been delivered on time over the last 12 months.
Prestigious schemes handled by empa partners in 2015 include the major schools project in Leicester, Sneinton Market and Dakeyne Street in Nottingham and BioCity Nottingham.
Alan said: “We provide a vital service to public-sector bodies at a time when they are struggling with budgets and they need a safe and reliable pair of hands.
“That’s something that is not going to change over the next three years, with more cutbacks on the cards.”
empa also remains committed to encouraging new talent into the industry.
Its pioneering training academy appointed and supported a record-breaking 40 apprentices in 2015, offering 89 work experience opportunities, delivering 1,513 training days, supporting 77 professional qualifications and helping to create 146 construction jobs.
Also being rolled out during 2016 will be a new “Adopt a School” strategy, with framework partners working closely with careers specialists in individual schools for a dedicated two-year programme.
Communicating directly with young people is considered a key ongoing priority.
The empa Training Academy is co-ordinated by the Nottingham-based Futures Apprenticeship Agency which has very close links with the schools and colleges.
Work experience opportunities are emailed directly to a database of schools and colleges and a variety of events and forums have been held this year, including sessions dedicated to urging young women to enter construction.
Alan added: “The rise of social media as a channel for communicating with young people cannot be ignored. The empa Training Academy has its own Twitter feed highlighting its latest news and opportunities, but there are many more social media outlets which are either well established or growing outlets for communicating with young people such as YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram which could be explored.
“Whether it be through face-to-face communication in schools and colleges, digital marketing with emails which land in the relevant inboxes or through the most pertinent social media channels, it is important to use the right outlets to reach a young audience – and to speak in terms which are accessible to those without prior knowledge of the sector.
“Recruiting young people into construction now and over the next few years is going to be a challenge, but working smarter to ensure the right methods of communication are used and that the industry is talking to young people in a language they understand will make this all the more achievable.”
