In 2015 we joined the 5% Club. As members of the club, we pledged that by 2020 at least 5% of our workforce will be in formalised apprentice, sponsored student or graduate development schemes. At the end of 2015, 5.83% of our employees fulfilled that criteria.
Government analysis in The National Infrastructure Plan for Skills shows demand for over 250,000 construction and over 150,000 engineering construction workers by 2020. This means that our sector needs to recruit and train nearly 100,000 additional workers by the end of the decade.
We already invest over £2.5 million a year in skills and training, and we have well-established graduate and apprentice programmes to up skill new recruits to the industry. We equip 5,000 people a year with new skills at our 4Life Academy in Birmingham and a key theme of the Willmott Dixon Foundation is ‘Youth Unemployment and Inspiring Young People’, where we provide opportunities to underprivileged young people.
To find out more information about The 5% Club and how to become a member, please visit www.5percentclub.org.uk or get in touch by emailing contactus@5percentclub.org.uk.