Pro Installer September 2014 - Issue 18 | Page 14

14 SEPTEMBER 2014 PRO INSTALLER PRO NEWS www.proinstaller.co.uk SKILLS SHORTAGES STILL POSE MAJOR THREAT TO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY GROWTH, SAYS THE BUILD SHOW As several major pieces of industry research identify skills shortages as posing a serious threat to the on-going growth of the construction industry, the team behind the Build Show is warning that more must be done to support skills development. In a worrying statistic, the National Specialist Contractors’ Council revealed that 19% of specialist firms have reported being unable to bid for work because of a lack of skilled staff. The figure, released as part of the NSCC’s second quarter State of Trade Survey, is a significant increase on the yearly average of 6%. Meanwhile, the challenges of finding workers with the right skills have also been highlighted by companies surveyed in the latest UK construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), released by financial information provider Markit. As the housebuilding market in particular grows at its fastest rate in more than a decade, many of the firms surveyed in Markit’s research reported concerns about securing a skilled workforce in order to meet the increasing demands. The results echo the findings of the Build Show’s own research, in which 44% of construction professionals pointed to skills shortages as the biggest challenge faced by their business currently. A lack of clarity about how young people can break into the construction industry was cited as the main issue, with 47% of respondents claiming clearer routes into