• North
  West construction businesses working on the Paddington Village development
  join forces to buck the national skills shortage trend

• Young
  people challenged to come up with solutions to attract others into
  construction sector

• Award-winning
  programme helping to bridge the ‘skills gap’ for the region’s employers

A consortium consisting of
leading construction businesses Morgan Sindall Construction, Curtins,
Faithful+Gould, Ryder Architecture and Regenda Group is collaborating with
Agent Academy CIC to create new employment opportunities for young people
across Liverpool City Region.

With
five years’ experience of securing jobs for young people in the creative and
digital sector, creating £2.5 million in annual salaries, Agent Academy will
work with the consortium to understand what can be done to encourage more young
people to consider careers in construction. 

During
the three-month project a group of 12 young people will be challenged with
finding solutions to the construction sector skills shortage. They will learn
from experts in both built environment and marketing, engage in research with
other young people from diverse social backgrounds and use the insights they
gain to come up with answers to their unique challenge.

Every
Agent Academy programme is underpinned with a client challenge enabling the
young people to put their learning into practice. During this programme, the programme
participants will meet with over 40 city leaders as well as hundreds of other
young people to bring about their client recommendations. 

Recent
CITB research shows that there is significant room for
improvement regarding young people’s perception of the construction
industry as a career option, with it scoring 4.2 out of 10 among 14 to 19
year olds. The research showed that young people’s understanding of what a
career in the construction industry entails is based on outdated stereotypes
and differs greatly from the reality.

Sue
Patterson, senior business development manager at Morgan Sindall Construction
in the North West, said:

“We
regularly visit local schools and run jobs fairs, and often find that many
young people are completely unaware of the great variety of career
opportunities available in the sector. As an industry, it’s our
responsibility to demonstrate the wide variety of fulfilling roles that
construction has to offer.

“In
order to make construction more sustainable for the future and to boost
employment opportunities in the communities in which we work, it’s critical
that we demonstrate the great number of careers available to all young people
and attract a more diverse workforce in to the sector. 

“The
work we are undertaking with Agent Academy enables us to take a completely
fresh approach to this complex issue by having young people engage with their
peers to consider solutions on how to best promote the many fantastic careers
that our industry has to offer.”

Zoe
Wallace, director at Agent Academy, said:

“Agent
Academy has a track record tackling the talent challenge faced by the creative
and digital industry by giving young people the opportunity to upskill and then
kick-start their careers. We hope that this experience together with the
insight from our students will give a fresh perspective to how the construction
sector can tackle talent issues. 

“The
young people on this programme will come up with the answers that many
construction industry businesses are looking for. 95% of the young people
we work with gain full-time industry employment after completing the programme
so it’s a win-win for everyone involved.

“We
have a lot to look forward to, despite the skills challenges faced by our
region’s employers there are so many opportunities and by coming up with new
ways to engage the regions young people and motivate them we can make sure they
are ready to take on the careers of the future.”

Ged McNicholl, regional
director, Faithful+Gould, added:

“The opportunities in the
construction industry are vast. Diversity in the industry is a challenge, but
through the research from this project we are determined to change this to make
a career in the construction industry appealing to all.  

“We are all taking a
collaborative and forward-looking approach to solving the challenges faced by
the sector and I believe the next generation can play a big part in this,
particularly when it comes to bringing new technology and more digital ways of
working into the industry.”