Lights, camera and action for Scottish Apprenticeship Week!

In Scotland it is small and medium-sized firms that train the vast majority of construction apprentices. FMB members across the length and breadth of Scotland are passionate about employing and training apprentices. Scottish Apprenticeship Week shines a light on the role apprenticeships play in supporting people, employers, and the economy. The theme for 2023 is showing how apprenticeships are unlocking potential in people and businesses.

I don’t often get the opportunity to meet construction apprentices. Instead it is the boss of the building company that I engage with. So I set off to see if I could meet both ‘Master’ and ‘Apprentice’ on the same day to find out how this potential was being unlocked in people and businesses.

I enjoyed chatting with Carpentry and Joinery apprentice Liam O’Donnell. It’s clear he is held in very high esteem, as he has been entered into the 2023 Master Builder Awards, Apprentice of the Year Category. Liam’s boss Sean kindly took time away from his busy schedule to talk to me about why his company continues to recruit and train apprentices. The support of the CITB is a key factor for Sean. However, best you see what Liam and Sean have to say in these short videos:

Positive Scottish statistics and causes for concern

The latest statistics from Skills Development Scotland for 2022/23 show that for the ninth consecutive year, the Construction & Related occupational grouping had the highest number of starts (5,360) and the greatest proportion of starts (26.9%) across all Modern Apprenticeship Frameworks. This positive picture should be celebrated and I applaud every FMB member who continues to employ and train the next generation of Master Builders. However, there are wider structural problems that threaten to undermine the passion and ambition members have in employing apprentices.

There is a gap between the supply of Scottish Government funding needed to support the demand from building and construction firms to recruit construction apprentices. Scotland’s funding and skills system needs to be fit for purpose to support the construction industry. This is something I have taken up with policy makers and will continue to do so. With the latest Construction Skills Network (CSN) industry forecast for Scotland up to 2027 showing that an extra 19,550 construction workers will be needed from 2023 to 2027, this is no time to ease off the pressure on politicians or on our skills agencies.

My thanks also to Stuart Tolmie from the CITB and Lee Cairns, Director of Edinburgh-based FMB member company Thistle Trade Group Ltd for their help in setting up the filming.

Authors

Gordon Nelson

FMB Scotland Hub Director, Federation of Master Builders

Director, Federation of Master Builders Scotland

Gordon has nearly twenty years’ experience of working in membership organisations in Scotland and joined the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in 2014. Prior to this, he worked at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and for Unilever in business development, membership management and business-to-business marketing roles. Amongst his responsibilities in his role as the Director for FMB Scotland are public affairs, media relations, governance and representing member’s interests to Scottish policy makers and stakeholders within the Scottish construction industry. Gordon is the Secretary of the Cross-Party Group on Construction in the Scottish Parliament, and he is a member of the Scottish Building Standards Futures Board. Gordon represents the FMB on Scotland’s Construction Industry Collective Voice: which is comprised of the leading construction trade and professional bodies. In spring 2023 Gordon was appointed as an industry co-chair of the Construction Leaderships Forum’s (CLF) Transformation Board.

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