Rob Speke, manager of the Saint-Gobain Weber Technical Academy, addresses the role of product manufacturers in addressing the skills shortage
According to the CITB’s Construction Skills Network report, we’ll need to add more than a quarter of a million workers by 2026 to keep pace with projected levels of demand. That’s 53,200 additional workers every year.
Output in infrastructure and private housing in particular is forecast to exceed pre-pandemic levels by 2023, and the government’s £9.2bn commitment to improving energy efficiency is also expected to put strain on the repair and maintenance sector.
Diversifying training
As well as bringing in new talent, we also need to retain the people we already have. One way we can do this is by embracing a range of opportunities for upskilling, whether that is through more official routes such as vocational education, apprenticeships and distance learning or through onsite training support from manufacturers.
New product development can often be the driver for new construction methods. As these new products hit the market, the training and technical support offered by manufacturers helps to develop not only the associated new skills but keeps product users up to date with the latest best practice guidance.
A Construction Products Association (CPA) survey showed that there is little or no collaboration between the product user and the skills-focused organisations that support the manufacturers, so manufacturer led training is key to bridging this gap.
The Saint-Gobain Weber Technical Academy in Flitwick, Bedfordshire, officially opened in 2014 to improve the training and support for our industry and to help produce skilled tradespeople with the know-how to create high-performance buildings that improve the occupants’ wellbeing and daily life.
It is crucial that installers fully understand how the products need to be applied, and as importantly, the health and safety requirements that go alongside them. This is not only for their own safety, but to ensure that the products perform as expected throughout the life-cycle of a building.
In 2019 our academy saw us train more than 1,000 people across 144 courses, with the most popular being monocouche spray render and floor screeding courses. We closed the academy during lockdown and have slowly started to reopen the courses this year. We currently offer eight courses including flooring, tiling and external wall insulation (EWI).
Our commitment to training is not limited to our academy. Weber’s application managers give on-site support to larger projects to ensure our products are being correctly used.
Support for the next generation
We also work directly with more than 40 colleges across the UK, offering free materials and training to students and tutors. There are two initiatives that we currently offer; Weber Elite colleges and Friends of Weber.
There are 11 elite colleges that we work with each year. As part of this programme, local Weber application managers visit the college to deliver practical workshops that focus on how to use our products correctly.
The rise of multi-skilled trades
Interestingly, a notable impact of COVID has been tradespeople upskilling and moving into areas that have synergies with their original skills. At the start of lockdown, we saw an increase of plasterers learning more about rendering as they needed to alter their skills to the work that was available and could be done safely outside. While these skills may appear transferable, it’s critical that they have a solid understanding of the products they are using.
In the first lockdown, we launched a series of fortnightly Tea Break Talks that were streamed live on Facebook. In total, we held 14 sessions that were watched more than 88,000 times. The talks covered a range of topics from working successfully in the winter, through to applying floor screed with a render pump. Although not official training, it provided a great opportunity for installers to engage with our technical experts and ask any questions they may have.
For the UK construction to thrive in the years to come we must work together and work smarter. A key part of this is making training and knowledge a priority, whether that be on-site, in the classroom or in the digital world. As an industry we have to be relevant and, as people working in it, we have to care about it.
For further information on the Saint-Gobain Weber Technical Academy visit https://www.uk.weber/training/academy
