In the UK we are in the midst of uncertain times. Are we going to stay in the EU? What impact will it have on the trade industry if we leave the EU? Plus other factors including the slowdown in growth of china’s economy and the falling costs in oil prices due to the increase of oil being produced by the US.

There are many theories suggesting that if the UK leaves the EU, then our construction industry will begin struggling because here in the UK, we rely heavily on people from Eastern Europe to come and work on our construction sites. In fact we mentioned in a past blog post that many sites will not be able to meet their deadlines, or even function without Eastern European people.

However, a recent survey conducted by Construction News, states that over 2016 53 per cent of companies who took part in the survey were planning on actually increasing their work force. The remaining 47 per cent said that they were planning on maintaining their current workforce levels. Surprisingly none of the companies that participated in the survey anticipated a reduction in their current workforce.

The current forecast for the construction industry is that there will be steady growth over the next few years. Our government has clearly stayed committed to building new homes, building new developments, and revamping tired looking city centres, coupled with high levels of domestic demand for tradespeople, the future is certainly looking positive for the tradespeople of the UK.

Because we are experiencing a national skills shortage, people will be recruiting more this year to help fill the gap, whether there UK leaves the EU or not.  So, in our minds, and the minds of all of our students here at access training, there has never been a better time to change your career and train to become a Plumber, Electrician, Bricklayer or a Carpenter.

If you are interested in learning more about our trade courses, feel free to contact us today! 

When we are contacted by individuals researching electrical training courses, one of their main concerns regarding the profession is the obvious issue of safety. We are repeatedly (and rightly) reminded about the dangers associated with electricity on an everyday level, so it's easy to see why someone might be hesitant regarding the profession, with only the layman's understanding that they will be working with a highly dangerous power source.

Before you decide to become an electrician, it's important to familiarise yourself with the risks associated with the profession. While this may seem rather off-putting at first, it is actually far more beneficial to those looking to build a long-term career as an electrician. When you are aware of the dangers posed to you, as well as to colleagues and members of the public, you are more likely to keep in mind how important it is to follow proper health and safety procedures. As we have noted in a previous post, a career as an electrician can be both lucrative and rewarding, but to be a truly successful electrical engineer you must always keep in mind the possible dangers associated with the job.

Whether you decide to become a domestic installer or a site services electrician, there will be particular risks within your set area, as well as many that are universal. For example, domestic call-outs can be dangerous for electricians, as they are often called to rectify poor work attempted by inexperienced individuals. The best defence against these risks, along with those in many other trade professions, is knowledge. If you receive the right training and qualifications, before going on to uphold the strict guidelines required to work as an electrician, you will ensure that you are able to substantially reduce these risks, almost eliminating them altogether.

To make your choice a bit more straightforward, here are some simple tips for ensuring safety as an electrician:

A shortage of skilled workers is affecting every area of construction industry and if Britain decides to leave the EU, we could experience real crisis with in the construction industry in the UK. A lot of people who currently work within construction are Latvian, Bulgarian or Polish, and without these people, companies in the UK will not be able to complete their projects on time. In most circumstances, Eastern Europe labour is what helps keep some construction sites going.

If you are a regular reader of our blog posts, you will know that we have discussed the skills shortage in the plumbing, electrical, and carpentry industries at length. But we want to make you aware that these are not the only industries affected. The UK also has a distinct shortage of bricklayers and plasterers.

A director of Beard Constructions John Youle, who is based at Cumnor Hill, Oxfordshire, said: “contractors are struggling to find enough workers, particularly skilled bricklayers and plasterers. As a result of this shortage, the going rate for a bricklayer has increased to £200 per day.

He went on to say:

“In Oxford, there have been increasing signs of a skills shortage in the industry. Bricklayers’ pay has gone up considerably during the past 18-24 months. It is not uncommon for bricklayers and plasterers to charge £150 - £200 per day or £1000 per week! Even newly qualified bricklayers are charging £150 per day.

In the UK, there is always huge demand for new homes to be build, and with many other projects on the pipeline, like the updating of City Centres (take Leeds for example) there is huge demand for people who are fully trained bricklayers and plasterers. This demand is showing no signs of decreasing any time soon. So to help alleviate the current pressures on companies, and tradespeople alike, the construction industry needs new talent entering the industry. This is where the education of people (we say people, because young or older people are unaware of the benefits of a career in the trade industry) is crucial to motivate them to consider embarking on a diverse career in plastering or bricklaying.

Here at access training, not only do we provide bespoke electrical and plumbing courses, we also deliver a range of bricklaying and plastering courses, that have been developed specifically to help people who have no previous experience of plastering or bricklaying gain top quality skills as quickly as possible to get them onto the site and earning £30K+  a year!

If you are interested in a career in bricklaying, or plastering, you can contact us by filling out the forms of the relevant course pages, or call us on 0800 345 7492 to speak to a course advisor. 

When you finish your chosen courses and become a fully qualified trades-person, your white van and your tools will become your biggest asset! These items do not come cheap and can prove to be quite disruptive to your business if they breakdown, or worse – get stolen.

According to a recent study conducted by ironmongery Direct, 23% tradespeople surveyed have had the unfortunate experience of a van theft, 230 of the 1000 people have experienced theft in the last five years.

Even though it has been reported by the Office for National Statistics that vehicle crime is decreasing, it is not surprising that vans get broken into more than cars, because of the potential of stealing some expensive tools.

Ironmongery Direct also uncovered in their study the regions which received the most break-ins, with the West Midlands coming out on top with a shocking 1,854 van thefts and a total of £6,381,239 stolen in the past 3 years. The region which received the second highest amount of theft is West Yorkshire, with a value of £3,000,925 stolen and 993 vans broken into over the same period.

Meanwhile, tradespeople in Merseyside experienced 653 thefts, 210 in Nottingham and 218 in Northumbria. Surprisingly, the city of London had the lowest amount of van thefts with 2 thefts reported over the last three year period.

As a trades person, your tools and your van are your most valuable assets, so keeping them safe should be your top priority.  Keeping your tools safe could be the difference of you going out to your jobs and earning money, you have to turn jobs down while you spend money getting your tools replaced.

To keep your tools safe, you should;

• take any tools out of your van at the end of your working day,
• park your van in a garage, so that thieves cannot access it,
• install anti-theft boxes in your van with anti-drill locks
• make your van harder to break into – install slam locks, dead locks
• Don’t leave your van unlocked – ever! Opportunistic thieves are always on the lookout!
• Make sure you have tagged all your tools, and
• Place a “No tools are lift in this van” deterrent sticker on the back of your van

Despite all this talk of break-ins, learning a trade can be a very rewarding career. No longer are you confined to the office walls between the hours of 9 and 5:30, doing a job that doesn't motivate you, and the only time you get to go outside is on your half an hour lunch!

Once you have become fully qualified in your chosen area, you can pick up the jobs which you want to do. Fancy a long lunch break, or even the afternoon off? Why not?! As a skilled trades-person, you have the ability to choose when hours you want to work.

Maybe your struggling to get by on £23,000 salary, as a qualified you could be earning up to £30K+ a year! Especially now, as there is currently huge demand for skilled workers, and not enough people to fill the gap! Essentially, if you are willing to put in the long hours, you will be rewarded with a very healthy salary.  Just remember to keep your tools safe!!

If all this talk about theft hasn't deterred you from wanting to learn a trade, click on the links below for more information about the courses that we offer.

• Electrician Courses 
• Plumbing courses 
• Gas Courses
• Carpentry Courses 
• Plastering Courses 
• Tiling Courses
• Bricklaying Courses 
• Painting & Decorating Courses 

Who can take this course?

Pros

Cons

A recent survey conducted by Retail Company Screw fix, shows that two out of five tradespeople were giving more quotes for work than a year ago, and more than half of the trades people who took part in the survey said that their business was better than the previous year, in particular, plumbers, electricians and carpenters are extremely optimistic about their business outlook during 2016.

In 2015, the skilled trade industry experienced an increase in demand towards the end of the year, fortunately this trend has continued into 2016, with one in seven tradespeople stating that they have too much work on their books.Most of the tradespeople surveyed said that they expected business to remain at the same level, or improve over the next 12 months.

If you are a regular reader of our blog posts, you will notice that we write about the current skills shortage crisis that we are currently experiencing in the UK regularly. The skills shortage is a huge issue that we are currently facing. Currently in the construction industry alone there is a shortage of 35,000 people, this figure naturally increases when domestic tradespeople are added into the equation.

With the increase in demand, it is apparent that – even though good for plumbers, electricians, gas engineers and carpenters, because it means that there is no shortage of work, potential customers will soon start to run into difficulties being able to find a trades person when they need them the most.

If these projections are correct, then 2016 could mean that many tradespeople may start having to work long hours to keep up with the demand. This means that now is the perfect time for people who are thinking about learning or retraining as a skilled trades person or adding taking courses to develop their existing skill set.

Here at Access Training, we have developed alongside City & Guilds, and other awarding bodies, a wide range of fully comprehensive courses that are suitable for people who have no prior industry experience. Our courses will teach you the very basics, through to the more advanced techniques used by trade professionals. 

To find out more about our plumbing, carpentry or electrical courses, contact us today!