58
APRIL 2016 PRO INSTALLER
PRO BUSINESS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
CONSTRUCTION NEEDS
VITAL SKILLS INVESTMENT
Barry gets
green light
at Glazerite
Glazerite, the manufacturer of PVCu trade frames,
windows, doors and conservatories, has announced the
appointment of a new Group
Environmental Manager, Barry Baddock.
Barry, who brings nearly ten
years of experience to the role,
has been tasked with reducing
the amount of waste produced by
the company across all its sites,
and has already introduced new
measures designed to improve recycling efficiency and ensure a significant reduction in the amount
of material sent to landfill.
He explained: “The whole system
for the disposal of used materials
has been revamped. Last year we
produced something in the region
of 174 tonnes of general waste,
including just over 17 tonnes of
glass, but we’ll only generate a
tiny fraction of that from now on.
“For instance, old and used
frames are now stripped of all
their metal components, such as
the metal inserts, and 99% of this
can be processed back into the
factory, which has the added benefit of saving money. And because
the material we’re returning to
VEKA for recycling is now 100%
PVCu, that also provides us with
additional revenue.”
The role of Group Environmental Manager is a new position
created by Glazerite which, as a
long term Network VEKA member, is extremely proud of its
green credentials. And while the
new measures launched by Barry
are a positive step for Glazerite,
it should also come as welcome
news to its many customers, who
can have even more confidence
that they are partnered with such
an environmentally responsible
supplier.
www.glazeritewindows.co.uk
According to a study, trades people were even busier in 2015 than
the year before. But as workloads increased, businesses were
struggling to recruit more staff due to the current skills shortage.
With the boom in the UK
housing market and rise in
house building projects, this
trend looks set to continue. And as the construction
industry faces its biggest
skills shortage, growth to
the sector could be severely
limited. Wayne Lysaght-Mason, managing director at
IronmongeryDirect, discusses the importance of attracting talent to the sector in
order to bridge the gap and
keep up with rising demand.
IronmongeryDirect’s Annual
Industry Review found that overall
the construction sector occupied a
positive position throughout 2015
as tradesmen declared how busy
they were, and that revenues were
up. But as a result, many businesses were feeling the pressure as
staffing levels and resources were
pushed to their limit. While 17%
took on more staff and apprentices in 2015, a quarter of respondents said they struggled to take
on more staff because of the skills
shortage.
These figures are further supported by the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors (RICS) which
revealed that at the end of 2015
the UK construction sector was
facing its biggest ever skills shortage since 1998, with bricklayers
and quantity surveyors the harde st
to source. As a result, building
projects are likely to come under
threat and the construction of vital
infrastructure projects severely
delayed.
The reason for the labour shortage is not easy to pinpoint. One
of the main causes stems from the
global financial crisis. During a
recession, job losses are inevitable
and the economic downturn of
2008 to 2010 saw 300,000 tradespeople leave the construction sector. But as the building industry
begins to stabilise and improve,
these workers have not returned
or been replaced.
Those who left the industry may
have now retired or found new
job roles in other sectors. When
jobs are lost, this also affects confidence within that sector. Employers may be reluctant to take on
new workers, especially apprentices and graduates, even when the
economy gets back on track. And
people may be hesitant to enter
into a profession that previously
lost so many workers.
However, investment in the
sector is growing. The number of
new housing projects has risen,
particularly as the government
seeks to tackle the current housing shortage. It has promised the
construction of 200,000 new starter homes by 2020 and has invested £1.2billion to help deliver this
commitment. And those working
within the construction industry
have also seen their workloads increase, with nearly three quarters
of tradesmen reporting an increase
in revenue in 2015. 45% said they
had so much work on they actually had to turn jobs away.
For those within the sector,
this growth is positive news but
growth will only be sustainable if
there are enough skilled workers to deal with the rise in new
projects. If the growing skills crisis
is not addressed, more businesses
could be forced to turn away work
as they do not have the manpower
to take it on. It could also be the
case that the costs of completing
projects are pushed up as developers try to outbid each other to
secure the necessary workforce.
So how do we attract talent back
into the building trade?
According to the Local Government Association, in the past two
years the number of construction
qualifications awarded through
apprenticeships, colleges and universities has dropped by 10,000.
Attracting more young people into
the sector is vital, by expanding
apprenticeship and training opportunities.
Construction firms need to be
doing more to show young people
the opportunities available within
the building trade. To attract
young talent, these companies
need to be taking on apprentices
and offering better training to new
staff members.
Investment into skills is crucial
to ensure that the construction
sector remains stable. This is particularly important given that the
profession is feeling the consequences of an ageing workforce
and as a result, talent will be lost
when older employees move on
to retirement. The Construction
Industry Training Board estimates
that around 400,000 people are set
to retire from the profession in the
next 5-10 years.
Alongside attracting new recruits,
employers need to be taking care
of their current workforce; ensuring staff members remain within
the sector for the foreseeable
future. To keep skills within the
construction trade for longer, firms
could offer incentives such as regular training or flexible working
hours.
Investment in skills needs to take
place now before the workload
becomes too heavy to deal with.
And with 622,000 young people
unemployed, now is the ideal
time.
www.IronmongeryDirect.co.uk
NatWest scraps lending fees for SMEs
NatWest has increased its
support for SMEs by eliminating both set up and early
repayment fees on its loans
for small business.
Businesses can now borrow up
to £500,000 and repay at any time
without incurring any penalties.
The move has been supported by
the Federation of Small Businesses
(FSB) and Forum of Private Business. The bank has also launched a
team of ‘Business Growth Enablers’.
This team of 73 will each host
weekly education events for local
business communities, covering
topics from importing and exporting to cyber security, with the aim
of providing face to face support
to more than 60,000 customers
this year. These events will be
open to all local businesses, not
just NatWest customers.
NatWest removed arrangement
fees on its small business loans
last year, but in recognition that
businesses often need flexibility
and control of their cash flow, the
bank decided to remove early repayment fees. In addition, NatWest
has increased the maximum loan
value, making it the first bank to
offer businesses fee-free loans of
this size.
Mike Cherry, Policy Director at
the FSB, said: “FSB is encouraged
by this move. Our members seek
the total removal of unfair fees,
and we hope this will now prevent
smaller firms being penalised just
as they need support to succeed.”
FSB backs the Business Banking Insight (BBI), an online tool
to help small businesses identify which banks best meet their
needs, based on feedback from
other small firms.
www.business.rbs.co.uk