‘I am a strong believer that no one should be stereotyped into specific roles and this includes the perception of men on the construction site’ – Jwerea Malik, operations manager at Balfour Beatty, and co-chair of the group’s Gender Equality Affinity Network.

After we spoke to our plumbing student, Leah Carney, and hearing her inspiring story, we’ve been determined to continue the dialogue surrounding women in the construction industry. 

Leah is an ambitious and driven individual: a designer who had taken to delivery driving for extra money, and then decided to train as a plumber at the outset of the pandemic. She is already qualified as a plumber, gaining new electrical qualifications, and setting up her own business. 

But Leah is just one of thousands of similarly hard-working people around the country who have made the construction industry their home and future. Over the pandemic, the construction industry has seemed to appeal to hard-working and skilled women, as a refuge from redundancy and an opportunity for a fulfilling career. According to Lianne Lawson, a construction manager who has been in the industry for 14 years:

‘The pandemic has taught all of us how quickly we can evolve and adapt to new ways of working, and I think the mindset for everyone has changed. [...] Having to work from home in many cases has opened the industry up to the possibility of more flexible working conditions.’

It goes without saying that the construction industry should accommodate everybody who has a desire to work within it; and perhaps one inadvertent result of the pandemic is that this has happened. 

For decades, the construction industry has been perceived as a male-dominated industry. But hearing the stories of women in construction, we learn that the last decade or two has resulted in greater accessibility to footholds and successful careers for thousands of women across the UK. Since then, it has been exciting to witness the brilliant and essential contributions that women have made to the trade industry, only further demonstrating that there absolutely is a much-needed place for them within the sector.

‘When i joined the industry 10 years ago as a graduate engineer, I was, more often than not, the only woman in the room. I felt the pressure to be seen as a peer to my male colleagues. – Malik

Jwerea Malik also notes how, from being the only woman on a project, the industry has now developed to seeing 23% of new starters in construction being women. It’s refreshing to consider how far the construction industry has come in recent times, and these stories of success are a testimony to the freedoms and attitudes of today. 

But as important as it is to acknowledge and celebrate how far we’ve come in the construction industry, there is obviously further we can go in ensuring that everybody feels welcome, and to encourage everybody to contribute in a fast-growing and multi-faceted industry. Considering the skills shortages of today’s construction sector, and the huge demand for work, it only makes sense for the prosperity of the industry itself that we look for strong, skilled tradespeople from all aspects of society. 

I was considered a bit of a novelty, noticed more for my differences than the engineering skills and expertise we had in common. I felt I had to prove myself, not just in terms of delivering my work to the best of my ability, but to be seen as an equal to my teammates. The rarity of a woman on a construction site 10 years ago meant inclusion wasn’t second nature. – Malik

What’s more, it goes without saying that a successful business is an inclusive business. Those leaders of the trade who represent all aspects of society are those with a greater customer base, a broader image, and who ultimately thrive in a competitive market. It suits everybody to make sure that construction is not a career for the men only – frankly, why limit ourselves?

‘I think it was my own perception that I couldn’t do it, so I was trying to break that mentality, which the people around me helped to do’ – Lianne Lawson.

Success in the construction industry is all about ability, and should never be about any aspect of your gender and background. If you have an interest in joining the construction community, don’t hesitate; from an outsider perspective, it might look like a male-dominated environment, but as you can see, things are changing. It just takes some bravery, self-belief, and knowledge that you are judged on your ability and willingness to work, over any other factors.

Women in construction are no longer a novelty; they are essential to the industry’s future. Why not be a part of this future, and join women like Leah, Lianne, and Jwerea? It takes one call to Access Training to get your career on track.

Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.

Here we are, in the first week of 2021, facing another national lockdown.

If there’s one thing that continuous lockdowns have done to us, it’s that it’s made us more aware than ever of the importance of our jobs and professions; how much we rely upon our work for the security of our future. Even the very language we use to describe our different occupations within society has changed: phrases like ‘front-line workers’, or ‘essential workers’, have made us reconsider what is ‘essential’, important, and most valued in our country. 

On top of this, different industries and sectors have faced different struggles; some have fared better than others, having been considered ‘essential’, or having the good fortune to be able to operate relatively unaffected by the pandemic. Some people have been better assured than others that their roles will still be around once the lockdown is over. It comes as no surprise, then, that an increasing number of people want to change their careers. Statistics released since August have shown that, with the country in and out of lockdown, many people are reconsidering their futures in their current roles, and are thinking about jumping ship.

It goes without saying that the one thing everybody wants during this time is what we might call ‘lockdown immunity’. That is, the ability to keep working, earning, and living as close to a normal life as possible, in absolute safety. To be professionals, to contribute a service to society. There are not many, if any, of these sorts of jobs around at the moment. But one place you will definitely find them is in the construction industry.

With Boris Johnson’s assurance in November that construction work is still possible under lockdown restrictions, this is a prime time to be working as a tradesman. Not only are people still able to become qualified, but they are able to go out and seek work, and complete that work. Construction companies are not only still opening their doors, but are actually improving on their 2019 performances. Take Barratt, for example, who ended 2020 with cash reserves of £1.11bn, up from £308.2mn in June the same year. They still managed to make a 9.2% increase on their house building rate in 2019. 

Would this have been possible if the construction industry was on its knees? If it was nonfunctional under a lockdown? Of course not. And the only response to that, from somebody desperate to get back to work, is surely a no-brainer. We have often stressed the importance of using lockdown time to your advantage; access online, virtual training courses to build your skillset and gain employment for when the time comes, and work opportunities restart. And one thing that recurring lockdowns have done is confirm that our advice was bang on.

Lockdowns, as is now very clear, are not going away any time soon. It is evident that the potential optimism brought upon us by the new year is now unfounded, as complications relating to new Covid strands arise, delayed vaccinations are likely, and case numbers soar. It’s safe to say that restrictions will remain with us for a while to come.

Despite Rishi Sunak’s continued promises of grants and further extensions of furlough, what you really need is security, stability, and assurance for what comes next. You need to be able to hit the ground running when normality returns, and not have to depend on government money. You want to ensure that there is a career waiting for you, an income to support you and your family, and some sense of freedom and security to rest upon. All of this meaning that you may need to start preparing yourself for a potential change of career.

Because if and when another lockdown potentially happens beyond this one, or if restrictions tighten up further on down the line, you don’t want to be left stranded and powerless. You want to be working, productive, still developing as a professional. You want to continue doing what you’re good at, do fulfilling work, and offer a valuable service. 

Access Training can and will give you this. It’s all in your hands – nobody will make the decision for you. All it takes is commitment, dedication, and a call.

Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.

In this day and age, becoming a carpenter can be simpler and shorter than the more traditional routes, which usually involve long-winded apprenticeships, large classes, and gradual results. But this doesn’t have to be the case…

Private Training Academies are the efficient and effective way forward; the short story is that it gets you qualified, working, and earning, quicker than you could any other way. And here are a few reasons why:

• They offer shorter, more condensed courses. 
• This style of intensive training not only makes you learn quicker, but also gives you the same learning opportunities in a more efficient time frame. 
• By the time an apprentice is one-fifth of their way into their course, you can be onsite and gaining valuable experience and salary.
• They are more flexible. 
• Private centres are not like schools or colleges; if you need to, you can fit your training around your professional and personal life. 
• You can complete significant portions of your course online, and travel to the training centre only when it suits you. 
• You gain the qualifications at the pace which suits you best, from whichever location is most convenient.
• They offer high-quality training from industry professionals.
• The training you receive from private academies is guaranteed to be run by tutors who have worldly experience in the industry. 
• They have often spent decades in the field, and are used to working with all manner of tradespeople, on all kinds of jobs.
• To put it simply: you’ll be learning from the best.

The country will always need carpenters, and that’s why Access Training is committed to supplying the next generation of carpenters with the qualifications they need to get on the field, get working, and get earning. If you work well with your hands, can manage well in a team, and enjoy problem-solving – then a carpentry career is for you. 

Access Training offers every qualification necessary for getting started on a promising and successful career. Every type of course we offer covers the bases of carpentry: whether you want a few important, fundamental skills to get you started, or if you want to go all the way up to fitting kitchens and roofs – we have what you need. 

Take a look at our course types below to get an idea of what’s on offer:

• Essential

• Offering the essential skills and qualifications necessary to becoming a domestic carpenter; this course is the base layer requirement for getting you out and working in domestic environments.

• Professional

• For those serious about going far in a carpentry career, this course builds on the qualifications on offer; for wider career options, greater skill-set, and more work opportunities, choose this course.

• Premier

• This course will give you everything you could possibly need from a carpentry career; not only will you be a fully qualified and desirable employee, but you will also have the means to work for yourself, and be your own boss. 

How training works:

With the right mindset, all you need to do is pick the right course for you. Sign up, and our tutors will take care of the rest.

Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.

The Covid-19 pandemic has threatened the jobs of millions of people across the UK. Since March, the UK has seen an unemployment crisis not seen in this country for decades, with 181,000 people having been made redundant, and counting. If recent forecasts have told us anything, it’s that the damage done to our economy as a result of the pandemic will be permanent. That we’re in it for the long haul.

The most up-to-date statistics, as given by the Office of National Statistics in September, puts the UK’s unemployment rate at 4.8%, having risen by 300,000 since last year. This indicates a current level of 1.62 million unemployed people. But predictions for the next year are much, much higher, with the number reaching 2.6 million by the middle of 2021. That accounts for 7.5% of the working population, a level of unemployment not seen since the aftermath of the financial crisis ten years ago. 

However, some predictions relating to the scale of UK unemployment are even higher. The Bank of England suggests that the unemployment rate will peak at around 7.7% between April-June 2021. And other sources predict that this percentage could even reach beyond 10%. Some factors, such as the government’s extension of furlough, might reduce these figures temporarily. But these varied predictions tell us one important thing: that although we know that times ahead will be tough, we simply don’t know just how bad things are going to get. Are we merely taming the inevitable storm which will, at some point, cause widespread and long-term unemployment? How can the working population of the UK possibly prepare for such a large-scale crisis?

Unfortunately, Rishi Sunak’s spending review in November gave us little cause for hope. In order to deal with the demands of the pandemic, the UK government has had to borrow £349bn – ‘the highest [amount] in peacetime history’, according to Sunak. He announces that the economy is expected to contract by 11.3% this year – ‘the largest fall in output for more than 300 years’, Sunak says. He does not expect to return to pre-Covid levels of economic growth until ‘the fourth quarter of 2022’. And, to top it all off, he describes the damage done to the economy as ‘lasting’.

It goes without saying that now, more than ever, we are all desperate to hear words of comfort, security and hope. And despite Mr. Sunak’s insistence that the government will ‘ensure nobody is left without hope’, hope is seeming increasingly difficult to find. With continuous reports of redundancies, thousands across the country are falling victim to what has repeatedly been described as the ‘Coronavirus jobs bloodbath’ of recent months. 

But our purpose is to offer just this: hope. Because if there’s one thing we’ve learnt during the months of the pandemic, it’s that our tutors, our students, and individuals and organisations across the construction industry, are highly resourceful, determined, and efficient workers. We have demonstrated our ability to keep operating, despite the restrictions of the pandemic, in a safe and efficient way; just notice how all construction work has been allowed to go ahead in the second wave of lockdowns and restrictions. 

Most importantly, though, there are many, many job opportunities available in the construction industry. Construction sites were among the first working environments to open in August, and construction sites have been allowed to remain open, even over lockdowns. Construction work is absolutely essential to the growth and recovery of the UK’s economy, not only in the months ahead, but in the years, decades to come. Hospitals, schools, roads, houses – all these things will continue to need building, rebuilding, repairing. Large infrastructural projects, like HS2, still need completing, and are all vital to our economy. 

And this is why we at Access Training have adapted our services as best we can, by creating an online portal to ensure that the theoretical aspects of our training can still be completed in spite of lockdowns, isolations, and anything a pandemic can throw at us. 

This is why we, and other independent companies across the UK, are taking the initiative and networking with other industry leaders to create a stronger job market, and supply the construction industry with the workforce it so desperately needs. 

This is why Access is dedicated to training the next generation of tradespeople in our centres; because we know that the opportunities are there for years to come. That having skilled, experienced tradespeople working in the UK, has never been more important.

The construction industry has been, and will continue to be, an absolutely essential element of the UK’s future development. Mr. Sunak’s hopes for economic recovery are highly dependent on a thriving construction industry.

The UK construction industry needs tradespeople – needs you – more than you can imagine. Take a leap of faith and join a fast growing industry, where you won’t have to find work – it will find you. 

Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.

First thing’s first: anybody can be an electrician, with previous experience or not. In reality, there are only a few important things you need:

• Theory and practical training preparing you for exams and career
• Industry recognised qualifications from an accredited awarding body (such as EAL or City & Guilds). 
• A good work ethic, and a commitment to working in the trade industry.

There are a couple of ways you can gain the training and qualifications to start your career as an electrician. You will need to choose the option that both suits your lifestyle and provides you the best outcome. The two most common are:

• Apprenticeship. 

• This takes 2-4 years to complete, typically involving large classes and infrequent training.
• Poor starting wage.
• Good experience gained working with professionals for a long period of time.

• Private training academy 

• Private academies involve professional tuition in small, focused groups.
• Amount of time training is the same as apprenticeship, but is condensed to full time or flexible courses so people can work at the same time as training.
• Courses last from 2 weeks to several months depending on the qualifications being obtained. 
• Experience needs to be gained quickly and confidently .
• Great starting wages as qualifications have already been earnt. 

Access Training is a private training company which offers the training courses necessary to become a qualified electrician. It gives you the necessary qualifications, and a leg-up into the electrical industry, providing you with essential experience, skill, and qualifications. Speak to our career support team today to explore all the options available.

READ MORE: How to Become an Electrician

Here’s a breakdown of what Access Training can offer anybody starting out on an electrical career, or already experienced in the field, wanting to add a string to your bow. Our courses range between the following:

• Essential - Offering the essential skills and qualifications necessary to becoming a domestic electrician; this course is the base layer requirement for getting you out and working in domestic environments.

• Professional - For those serious about going far in an electrical career, this course builds on the qualifications on offer; for wider career options, greater skill-set, and more work opportunities, choose this course.

• Premier - This course will give you everything you could possibly need out of an electrical career; not only will you be a fully qualified and desirable employee, but you will also have the means to work for yourself, and be your own boss.

How training works:

With the right mindset, all you need to do is pick the right course for you, sign up, and our tutors will take care of the rest.

Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.

So it's now turning cold and winter is beginning to set in after some mild and changeable weather. As a result professional plumbers are going to start getting those panicked calls from customers regarding frozen pipes leading to expensive floods and leaks, potentially ruining the house and its contents.

As any professional plumber will know, there are some obvious mistakes that people make when they are taking measures to protect their house to prevent these issues occuring, the most obvious being to turn your heating off if you go away as it makes sense when you’re going away to stay with family. The top tip we cover is:

Don’t turn the heating off and leave it on a low setting

This action in itself, could cause serious problems if the temperature drops too low as the pipes will freeze and could burst whilst you're away. 

• You should leave the house warming to a minimum of 14 degrees centigrade. The only time you should leave your heating off is if you're away for a longer period of time. 
• Consider turning the stop cock off or even draining the system altogether if away for long periods, but this needs to be carried out by a trained and qualified professional plumber or they could end up with further issues. 
• Many households will have a combi boiler heating both the hot water and heating elements of the home so the danger here is that the pipes will have condensation within and cause the boiler to stop working. And remember, all pipes can freeze.  

Pipes freeze whether they are plastic or copper

There are also stories abound that people with plastic pipes rate than the traditional copper pipes means that they won't freeze or burst. When it comes to this problem, the type of pipe is irrelevant, it depends how much the pipe has to expand when the water within freezes. 

• Insulation of pipes is key with all of this, so all pipes that are in areas where freezing is a risk suck loft spaces and garages. 
• It's also imperative that any dripping or leaking pipes are dealt with as possible as this will increase the likelihood of the pipes or drains freezing. 
• If in doubt turn the stop off and call professional plumber:

Turn the stop cock off and call a profesional plumber

If a pipe bursts or there appears to be a problem with a persistent drip or ‘weep’ then the stopcock should be turned off and any repairs should be completed by a qualified plumber.

• Alternatively a hairdryer, could be used to thaw out a frozen pipe but be careful not to use a high heat setting. 
• Don’t be tempted to use a naked flame such as a lighter or even a blowtorch to thaw the pipe.
• Homeowners should make sure they know where the stopcock is situated and they should regularly make sure that the tap itself is serviceable.

Using the services of a professional plumber

There is a danger also that some plumbing work can be carried out by homeowners rather than hiring a professional plumber. 

• The cost of hiring a plumber is an unwelcome expense to many but the mistakes made could mean they're paying a plumber more to fix a plumbing issue than was necessary than the first place, costing more time and money. 
• To make sure the job is done right the first time, it is easier to simply call out a qualified plumber to avoid any costly mistakes. 
• At Access Training our experts can offer you advice if you’re not sure about any training that may be required to carry out a task.

Advice from Access Training’s plumbing tutors

Our Tutors advice, thorough years of experience, is to: 

• Always use a qualified plumber to ensure the job is done safely and most importantly carried out to UK building regulations.
• Nobody should undertake a task that they were not trained to rectify as possibly dangerous scenarios can result from the most simplistic looking tasks. 
• A trained professional plumber, someone who has received the training, skill and knowledge and therefore holds professional plumbing qualifications, is the only way to deal with problems that arise. 

At Access Training, we are always striving to provide people of all ages, young and old, with the professional level of training, knowledge and skills needed to carry out basic and complex tasks, safely and efficiently. For those looking to become skilled and qualified as a plumber, we will teach you what you need to know, allowing you the opportunity to turn basic DIY jobs into earnings and a career.

How we train: 

To find out how to become professionally certified in a trade such as plumbing or to simply discuss the career options available to you, call us today.

Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.

Let's be clear about the answer to this; No, they are not and here’s why:

Firstly, let's be clear about what this means; right now registered gas engineers can still install and replace a gas boiler with a combi gas boiler. These boilers must, however, be of Boiler Plus Standard in England (in Wales the rules vary due to property type). This covers the vast majority of housing stock in the UK and will remain so for decades to come so there will be no shortage of boiler work for installers for the foreseeable future.

So why the confusion about new builds you may ask? Well it has come about from the erroneous inclusion of a comment in the government's latest Ten Point Plan that the Prime Minister announced days ago, for a Green Industrial Revolution that gave a promise to outlaw gas boilers in new homes by 2023. The plan gave a pledge to implement the Future Home Standard in a shorter space of time, followed by many within the industry asking questions about this bold line. It turns out that it was included in error and was hastily retracted. But confusion still reigns, with questions such as, ‘are we going to stop installing gas boilers in homes?’ as a typical example. 

The rules only affect new builds. It's an inevitability that the installation of gas central heating appliances in new build properties will be banned, alternative means of heating including heat pumps or hydrogen boilers or electric boilers will have to be specified by developers. However, these technologies are far from being installed in great numbers as yet with further technological developments needed before they are both widely available and able to deliver reliable heating results.

For more background on this we need to look at The Future Home Standard which is due to come to fruition from 2025. The government is now extending the Green Homes Grant for another year according to the aims set out the Heat and Buildings Strategy for 2021 and the government’s Ten Point Plan also supports the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive which says that all new developments in the UK are required to be nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB) before 2021. Hence why everyone is confused; the timeline is short and becoming condensed. Kevin Wellman, CEO of CIPHE was quoted in PHAM News on this subject: 

“The infrastructure will not be in place by 2023 to abolish gas boilers. The Hydrogen network is not due to be trialled at scale (in limited areas) until 2023 and heat pump production will need to increase significantly to reach demand.”

The bottom line is that existing properties will not be affected by the legislation and are expected to be able to use gas boilers for the foreseeable future. The government has a commitment to Net Zero by 2050, so it’s true that natural gas fired boilers are time limited and technology will inevitably change, but not for another 30 years. 

Overall, the industry will take many, many years to adapt and gas boilers will exist in millions of properties for many years to come. They will all need servicing and maintaining and replacing and there still remains the problem that there are not enough Gas Engineers to carry out this work at present.

Whether you want a new career as a Gas Engineer, expand your existing services or need to renew your gas certificates we are here to help you get there through our bespoke gas training courses.

Talk to us about our gas training courses now!

Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.

A controversial advertising campaign commissioned by the Government to encourage people to change career if they’re in danger of redundancy or at risk as furlough as about to come to an end, has been pulled following complaints abouts its content and the lockdown conditions changing once again. 

Social media reacted with fury after the adverts called for people employed within the arts and culture, struggling sectors to ‘Rethink, Reskill, Reboot’, with an emphasis on considering a career in ‘cyber’. The ‘Cyber First’ adverts featured 4 different people in different roles but primarily a ballerina named Fatima who is pictured tying up her ballet shoes next to the words, ‘ Fatima’s next job could be in cyber. (She just doesn't know it yet)

The reaction has been ‘negative’ to say the least, with many responding to the calls to ‘Rethink, Reskill, Reboot’, with accusations of condescension and a dismissive attitude by those in the arts and culture sector, as it asked for them to consider other new careers, in ‘cyber’. 

Whilst this is obviously an area of future growth with the digitisation of virtually every aspect of our lives, the connection of people directly to specific areas is a risky approach for many reasons. When interviewed recently, Rishi Sunak admitted that many people are going to have to abandon their current jobs and retrain in ‘sustainable’ and ‘viable’ sectors: ‘I can’t pretend that everyone can do exactly the same job that they were doing at the beginning of the crisis’, he said.

“If you’ve spent years, possibly even decades, working in a specific job role, then the expectation to shift suddenly and seamlessly to another is obviously a tricky prospect.” 

This is a wiser approach in our view, to offer advice and to suggest there are other options is far more subtle. But compounding this, the government has devised an ingenious and comprehensive online questionnaire to help you answer the big question: what to retrain as? Based on your preferences and skills, the intention was to make finding a suitable new career much, much easier. Unfortunately, however, it hasn’t quite gone exactly to plan either...

Some questionnaire results have produced some, unlikely results. And people have found much hilarity in this bizarre but welcome bit of light relief, with ‘fair-ground worker’, ‘boxer’, ‘fish-monger’, ‘stonemason’ and ‘countryside rangers’. One person reported that she was apparently assessed as being suitable to be a ‘Bomb Disposal Technician’ or ‘Bingo Caller’.

Among the thousands of unsuitable job suggestions was one lady in her fifties recommended as a stunt-double; responding on Twitter, she optimistically suggested that she should retrain as she ‘could be a stunt-double for an unfit woman in her 50s?’.

Another slight miscalculation involved a self-proclaimed ‘painfully unfit PhD student (who loathed PE throughout her school career and continues to avoid any form of exercise) should retrain as a... ‘professional sportsman’. 

But some results have, at least, shown that the test gives some accurate results, as partakers in this quiz have ended up being told to retrain in… their current job: 

‘I’ve just done the government assessment to see what I should retrain as’, wrote one bemused user. ‘I’m going to leave my job as a teacher to become...a teacher’. 

You may want to take a look and see what vocations your skills match up to (but don't say we didn't warn you about unexpected outcomes):

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/skills-assessment

On a serious note, however, this only reflects the gravity of the situation. Many thousands of people across the country are due to have their worlds turned upside down, and forced out of happy, prosperous careers. They are being forced to consider changes that were not part of anyone's plan only a few months ago.

Thankfully though, Access Training offers the perfect way out, but for those who have a desire to get a trade. We are quite clear that there are many other options out there for new careers and training courses to get you there but we will only ever offer advice to those who have asked for it. Not preach it to everyone regardless of their situation. 

Serving those wanting to retrain and change careers to get a trade has been a goal of ours since the beginning, 2003 to be axact; thousands of people from across the employment spectrum have approached us with the aim of retraining and starting out on a fresh path into trades training. 

Now our services may be needed more than ever – and we may be the service that you need. We will however, never condescend you or take your previous experience for granted. Our Career Support Team is here to listen and advise you.

"Guys who’ve come from all sorts of backgrounds, taxi drivers, entertainment, even to the point where I’ve had some solicitors because they’re unsure of whether they’re ever going to go back to working in the office.

Anybody who's lost their job... my advice is don't be afraid. With hard work and the right training... you can do anything that you want."

Jimmy Adkins, Access Training Academies Tutor speaking to Robert Peston from ITV

Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.

In latest Covid-19 developments, Wales is preparing itself for a 2-week ‘Firebreaker lockdown’, which takes the entire country back to the restrictive conditions it saw in March. Similarly, Manchester and other large towns across England are on the verge of being made into ‘Tier 3’ restricted zones. The UK is seeing significant and dangerous rises in the number of Covid-19 cases. But as ever, we’re asking the same questions – what does that mean for workers and businesses in the construction industry?

As the country prepares itself for another potential large-scale lockdown, we’re here to sing the praises of the ‘fireproof’ construction industry, which, despite all the odds, is thriving and surviving through this turbulent period. Furlough and lockdowns will likely be things of the future, for months and potentially years to come. Retraining in construction early could be your ticket out of purgatorial furlough schemes, stationary jobs, and a sinking job-support ship. Read on to find out five reasons why we think retraining in construction is a no-brainer.

• All construction work is set to continue despite lockdown

Although minor repair and maintenance work in private homes is banned in Wales, all other commercial and infrastructural building work is set to continue. Build UK has recently issued a template letter for all construction workers to carry around with them, in case they are mistakenly stopped by police enforcing the lockdown. This letter will have details of the worker, company they work for, and site they are working on – for any workers currently in the construction industry, you can download your own here: https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/health-and-safety/wales-lockdown-workers-issued-letter-of-proof-as-construction-continues-20-10-2020/

In short, construction workers are now treated as essential workers – and rightly so!

This will be a massive reassurance to those working in construction, as it ensures that major projects will go ahead, freeing up a long backlog of projects yet to go ahead. Even better, construction work of all kinds is continuing as planned in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland too. 

‘A sharp output rebound of 13.5% for the whole construction sector is forecast in 2021’ – David Rice, Construction News (October 20th, 2020)

• Productivity and demand are at an industry record high

A recent forecast has shown that construction industry output has been affected less than first fears indicated. The Construction Products Association predicted an initial 20.6% reduction in output, but this has been lowered to 14.6% – a significant decrease. The industry is one of the few whose performance is actually looking set to improve as time moves on, and is proving to be the safest and most stable place to work at the moment – and, indeed, for a long time to come.

• Construction made a quick recovery post-lockdown

The speed with which the construction industry got back on its feet is very promising, but it’s all down to one important fact: construction is essential, and tradespeople will always be in high demand. This is exactly what was seen in July and August of 2020, when the demand for construction work, after seeing a backlog of months, skyrocketed. Sites opened quickly after the lockdown, and workers adapted well to the new restrictions. They got their heads down, and did the job – a testament to hard work, determination, and a passion for the trade.

• Building sites have adapted well to Covid-19 restrictions

When lockdown measures were first relaxed in July and August, allowing construction work to recommence, there were great concerns that social distancing measures would inhibit the productivity of a building site, making work inefficient, slow, and expensive. But this has not been the case – on the contrary, social distancing has hardly affected large-scale, infrastructural building sites at all. The trades have been allowed to continue largely unscathed, in relation to many other sectors across the country.

• The lockdown won’t stop you from becoming a tradesperson

What the last six months have seen is that the appetite for changing career and retraining as a tradesperson has never been more ravenous. Thousands of people have approached us, from a range of different backgrounds, to seek our services and reskill themselves in whatever aspect or aspects of construction they wish. Taxi drivers, chefs, pilots, entertainers, solicitors – you name it. 

The development of our online portal means that, wherever you are, in whichever ‘Tier’ or whatever state of lockdown, you can begin a course right from the comfort of your own home. Over lockdown, literally thousands of people have benefited from this flexibility, and with more lockdowns potentially looming, we don’t want you to miss out this time.

With the uncertainty ahead which clearly isn’t going away anytime soon, we hope you can see that the decision to retrain really is a ‘no-brainer’. If you think you have what it takes – the practical skills, the determination, and willingness to work for what you want – then Access Training can get you into lucrative, satisfying, and above all important work, in no time at all.

Learn your trade. Get qualified. Make it happen.