With more than 26,000 new jobs due to be created in the construction industry over the next five years Bristol builders are stepping up efforts to find the right recruits.
Helm Construction doubled its workforce through 2015 and is already recruiting extra staff to keep pace with a lively order book.
Amongst the latest recruits are Quantity Surveyor Kate O’Dare, site managers Julian Withey and Chris Hendy and groundworks Foreman Luke Merrick.
Managing Director Paul Evans said: “The latest appointments include senior professionals as well as industry newcomers and will help the company progress more than a dozen regeneration and new build schemes in and around Bristol.”
Helm Construction is pulling out all the stops to maintain numbers through continual recruitment and replacement as well as a tried and tested apprenticeship scheme.
“It is the nature of the industry that as soon as the work is out there building firms see a percentage of employees branch off into projects on a self-employed basis. That’s the way it’s always been and all building companies have to deal with it.
“Our expansion programme is aimed at improving our internal skill sets but has to be flexible enough to deal with wide fluctuations in the workforce.
“We doubled our workforce last year in order to meet increasing commitment across the area – which now extends to more than a dozen separate sites including residential and commercial projects – and we will keep recruiting to ensure we can keep up with increasing order books.”
Paul Evans was commenting on latest Construction Industry Training Board figures which suggest sector employment could reach more than 257,000 by 2020 – with 26,000 of those here in the South West.
