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Are you Britain’s best bulldozer driver? A world-class wheel loader operator? The search is on for Operator of the Year, with £10,000 in prize money up for grabs in a dedicated all-day festival of construction.

Jackie Ducker, Executive Director for Customer and Product Director at CITB, is set to leave the organisation later in the year for a new Chief Customer Officer role in NHS Property Services. Jackie has worked for CITB since July 2021.

2022 was a tough year. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was arguably the biggest conflict since World War Two. Meanwhile at home, rising inflation, interest rates, and a cost-of-living crisis took hold. The global and domestic upheaval impacted many industries including construction, one of the UK’s biggest growth drivers. This turbulence is reflected in our new Construction Skills Network (CSN) report.

Against a backdrop of economic challenge, rising materials and labour costs, new figures from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) reveal that almost 225,000 extra workers will be required to meet UK construction demand by 2027.

CITB has announced an update to planned changes to its plant standards and grants to standardise training and testing requirements across the construction industry. Excellent progress has been made and we are pleased to confirm that the first set of new standards are ready and have been developed in collaboration with industry working groups made up of employers, providers and federations. As these new standards are more detailed than any CITB have produced previously and represent a real change in the way that plant training and testing is delivered, we need to ensure that the changes that industry have asked for are fulfilled properly.

My job is to help firms get all the funding they’re eligible for, writes CITB Engagement Adviser Abbie Langridge.

This year, CITB has paid out over £5m more in grants and supported nearly 700 more employers compared to the same period in 2021. As we draw closer to the end of 2022, CITB data reveals that almost 12,500 businesses have been supported in the form of grants, with £54.6m paid out to date (Apr – Nov 2022), and more than half paid to small or micro businesses.

A school-based training facility which linked local people to employers who were struggling to recruit skilled workers scored top marks for delivery.

Over 100 construction learners joined a CITB employability event recently at Coleg Cambria, on Deeside. The aim of these events is to give college-based learners an insight into what a company is looking for in an apprentice, what level of behaviour they expect and how to best approach getting some work experience and an apprenticeship. The learners also hear the importance of Health and Safety on site.

Sian Walkey, like many in construction, didn’t take her apprenticeship straight from school. The mum-of-two had already studied, built up a successful career and started a family – but she wanted to go further. She wanted to upskill and unleash her potential.