The National House Building Council (NHBC) has launched the first of 12 Multi-Skill Construction Training Hubs as part of a £100 million programme to train 3,000 site-ready apprentices a year. The initiative has been introduced to tackle the 239,000 worker shortfall and the wider construction skills shortage.
The first apprenticeship training hub is in Lichfield, Staffordshire, located at The Lakes development in Curborough. The new facility has been funded in partnership with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), with land provided by Redrow Homes. Around two-thirds the size of a football pitch, the hub will train approximately 200 apprentices each year.
The first cohort of apprentices to qualify at the new NHBC Training Hub achieved a 93% pass rate, including four distinctions and nine first-time passes, significantly higher than the 53% industry average, according to Department for Education statistics.
Roger Morton, Director of Business Change at NHBC, (pictured) said: “We’re not just training apprentices, we’re raising standards across the house-building industry.
“With my background as an officer in the Royal Engineers, I’ve always been driven by overcoming challenges and improving quality. That’s exactly what the NHBC Training Hub in Lichfield is designed to do, delivering high-quality training at scale and producing skilled, site-ready tradespeople who can make an immediate impact on site. [The] hubs will train apprentices in the most critical house-building trades in conditions that mirror real construction sites. Apprentices learn outdoors and gain quality, practical experience from day one rather than spending most of their time in a classroom.
“Our training allows apprentices to qualify in as little as 14 months, almost half the time of many traditional training routes, helping the industry bring skilled, site-ready workers into the workforce faster.
“House building is facing a triple challenge. We need to build more homes, improve quality and address a serious skills shortage. When all 12 hubs are open, we will be delivering up to 3,000 skilled apprentices every year in the areas where they are needed most.
“For builders and contractors, the message is simple. Funding is available through the Apprenticeship Levy and other grants, making this a practical and scalable way to grow the workforce.”
The new NHBC Training Hub will focus initially on bricklaying, groundworks and site carpentry, which account for around 80% of house-building activity. The remaining capacity will support upskilling existing workers, skills bootcamps, traineeships and masterclasses to keep pace with local employer demand.
Jake Trawford, 19, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, an English and Welsh Sprint Motocross Champion, pictured here on site, is the first apprentice to qualify at the new Hub, after pursuing a groundworks apprenticeship. He said: “Completing my apprenticeship with a distinction in just over 12 months and becoming the first person to qualify from the new Lichfield hub is something I’m really proud of. It shows you don’t have to spend years in traditional education to start building a successful career.
“I passed my exams at school, but sitting behind a desk all day just wasn’t for me. I wanted a career where I can be outside, working with my hands and seeing what I’d built at the end of the day. Training at NHBC hub is as close to a real building site as you can get. You’re outside most of the day learning to the highest industry standards. If something isn’t right, the NHBC trainers teach you do it again until it is, which really prepares you for the industry.”
Tim Balcon, CEO of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), added: “Construction is facing one of the biggest workforce challenges in its history. If we are serious about delivering 1.5 million new homes, we must significantly increase the number of people entering the industry and make sure they are trained to a high standard. CITB is proud to support this initiative. It shows what can be achieved when industry works together to create clear, accessible routes into construction and give employers the confidence to take on and develop new talent.”
Construction is set to begin shortly on the next NHBC Training Hub in Northstowe, Cambridgeshire, with further locations under assessment as part of the national rollout.
