A report by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) indicates that more than a quarter of a million extra workers will be required by 2026 to meet projected growth in the built environment.

Faced with an aging workforce in which more people are retiring than training, Mark Krull from LCL Awards, argues that the industry needs to change its approach, from the training centre up, to encourage people from all walks of life to enter this thriving sector.

Steve Rhodes is all about heat pumps!  He’s been working with heat pump technology for the last fourteen years in roles that have covered project management, sales and training. Just over a year ago, he joined Unitherm Heating Systems, a new company focusing on the specification and supply of air source heat pumps across the UK. 

In response to the lack of women and other under-represented groups in the building services engineering sector – less than 1% of tradespeople are female – we have launched an Inclusivity Charter for our centres, to encourage them to take steps to make their training facilities welcoming places, with flexible course options to suit people from all walks of life.

LCL Awards recently launched its new Inclusivity Charter at a CPD session held online. We have been working on the charter for around a year, following research into the experiences of women and minority groups training to work in the building services sector. 

LCL Awards is a sponsor at this years Women Installers Together (WIT), the only national event for all women plumbers, gas engineers and other tradeswomen and trainees.

Of the 2.7 million people currently employed in the construction industry only 13% are women and that includes all of the admin workers, personnel, marketing people etc. Women on the tools is probably as low as 1%.

LCL Awards approved, Walsall Training Centre, which provides construction and building services qualifications for installers in the West Midlands, welcomed MP for Walsall North, Mr Eddie Hughes, on the 13^th April.

National Women’s Day in March this year saw the publication of a whitepaper about the experiences of women in the construction industry in the UK today. It was commissioned by On the Tools.

After a two-year collaboration between LCL Awards, the the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE), Heat Pump Association, manufacturers and industry professionals, we are delighted to announce the launch of the Ofqual-regulated, Low Temperature Heating and Hot Water Systems in Dwellings qualification.

Go Green Training Academy, based in Peterlee, County Durham, is one of the latest LCL Awards Centres to deliver our ASHP qualifications.