Conference Plenary 5

Wednesday 27 January 2016 13.30

P5 Changing the face of construction

There is a skills shortage in the housing sector which should not exist. Construction provides, maintains and reconfigures for modern purpose every space that people live, breathe and work in. As an industry, we fail to communicate the excitement and rewards of the diverse career pathways that we can offer to young people, women and highly trained people from different backgrounds, such as those leaving the military. By working together and sharing information, we can attract, train and retain the best workforce in Europe.

Guinness Property provides a maintenance service to over 60,000 homes on a national basis, covering all trades. We recognise the need to address both the skills gap and the inequalities evident within the sector at this moment in time. At Guinness Property, we have an aspiration to incrementally increase the number of women working across operational roles towards 10% by 2018, and to employ one apprentice for every 10 operational roles. Our commitment to employing apprentices provides us with the opportunity to increase the number of women across the geography in which we operate and, by working in a collaborative way with like-minded organisations and those who specialise in the recruitment of women such as WAMT (Women in Manual Trades), we do believe this current problem can be overcome.

Speakers

Christine Townley

Executive Director, Construction Youth Trust

Jane Nelson

Executive Director, LCB Construction

Billy Park

Head of Major Investments, Guinness Property

File downloads

Session P5 handouts Session P5 handouts

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The NHMF is the leading body representing housing providers, committed to championing innovation to deliver excellence in maintenance and asset management