TrustMark has published a new report, ‘Skilled to Build’, with views from frontline micro and small businesses on the factors contributing to the skills gap in the UK construction and home repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) sectors.
The report goes on to provide practical recommendations to affect change and build a skilled and competent workforce, TrustMark said.
The report highlighted the operational challenges faced by small and micro businesses around recruitment, training, funding and retention and offered solutions to address the identified gaps. The research, which was commissioned from Eureka! Research and Oxford Economics, included evidence collected from 1,233 small and micro businesses who provided an ‘on the ground’ perspective of the challenges and comprehensive solutions required to help identify and alleviate the skills gap.
TrustMark said the key findings from the report show a strong desire amongst micro and small businesses to recruit, with 45% of businesses surveyed reporting at least one vacancy. Recruitment appears to be a much larger issue than retention with these businesses, who have indicated specific challenges to fill the vacancies, including:
- Amount of paperwork and bureaucracy required
- Lack of joined up processes to find and fund suitable talent / training
- Low awareness amongst younger employees about the potential earnings in the sector
- Competition from other sectors seen as easier earning capacity
Filling these vacancies in the RMI sector would also boost UK productivity by creating opportunities to employ an additional 195,000 skilled tradespeople in the RMI sector, it noted, generating £4.1bn in additional gross value added (GVA). This is equivalent to 4.3% of the RMI sector’s £96bn contribution to UK GVA.
TrustMark stated that there is an ageing workforce with an estimated 39,000 businesses at risk of disappearing from the sector in the next 10 years. While 21% of the UK workforce are aged 55 years or older, 44% of the workforce in the RMI sector are older than 55 years, and a quarter of those plan to stop or semi-retire within the next three years. TrustMark added that the issue is highly time sensitive and is expected to further exacerbate skills shortages going forward. The lack of a guaranteed pipeline of work was also reported as a major obstacle to recruiting and retaining talent.
Four practical recommendations have been proposed on how the skills challenge can be addressed:
- Developing and delivering fit-for-purpose training and curricula
- Strengthening the navigation system for businesses to find recruits
- Unlocking and raising awareness of the financial incentives available
- Training and encouraging businesses into renewables and clean heat
Simon Ayers MBE, chief executive officer of TrustMark, said: “It’s a commonly accepted fact that there is a shortage of skilled tradespeople in the UK, along with a gap in the skills required to take us forward in meeting the UK’s Net Zero target. We commissioned this research to better understand the challenges faced by the small and micro businesses operating within the RMI sector, around recruitment, training and funding and retention, both of people and knowledge.
“Our report reveals that there is a strong desire for growth, but the businesses need support to help make that happen. Our recommendations, if taken forward, will enable them to overcome the challenges they are facing. This sector needs to be prioritised and by working collaboratively across it, the wider industry, associated organisations and government, we can all help to achieve warmer, more comfortable and healthier homes for the UK.”