The Building Podcast
Mark Wakeford is Chairman of the National Federation of Builders, vice-chair at Constructing Excellence Midlands and a Governor at Construction College, Moulton College. He has run a large regional building contractor and now chairs Evoenergy, one of the UK's foremost renewable companies, bringing low carbon solutions to corporate Britain.
Mark talks to leading experts from across the construction sector to discuss issues facing the built environment. He explores various challenges with his guests, who offer solutions, information and ideas that listeners can apply to their own situations, be it in a company, on a project or studying at college.
The Building Podcast aims to provide CPD on the go. Supporting the sector with easily digestible ideas to support a rapidly changing industry!
The Building Podcast
Mark talks to Tim Balcon
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“The construction industry is a people industry.” It needs people to build projects for people and without these people there would not be any industry. However, these people need to be competent, capable and available in numbers to support 8% of the UK’s Gross Domestic Product. Over sixty years ago, Government created the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to support the sector and ensure that its people are trained and available. Today, the CITB supports many aspects of employing people within the sector, from encouraging new recruits from all walks of life into the sector, to ensuring that they are trained and skilled throughout their careers.
Tim Balcon is the CEO of the CITB and has been in post for nearly four years, long enough to identify the challenges and the key support issues that the organisation has to address. Tim sees the CITB as the Human Resource department for the construction industry. There to support, not replace, individual business functions and he has taken the organisation on a journey to redefine its vision and roles within the sector. Tim talks about the challenges that the sector faces, the partnerships with industry and training providers that need to be maximised and the changing role of the CITB to meet these opportunities.
Listen to the Podcast to hear the direction of travel for the industry’s training body and the role of construction companies throughout the sector in professionalising the workforce to be future ready to meet the roles and careers needed in the future to keep the UK building.