The Building Podcast with Mark Wakeford
Mark Wakeford is a Director of the National Federation of Builders, Strategy Director of the Global Solar Council and Chair of the West Midlands Solar Taskforce. 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 with Mark Wakeford
One solution to the skills crisis - Tackle it early in schools with real construction examples
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The UK construction market needs an additional 50,000 people to join the sector every year till 2030 if it is to provide the services to which it is contracted or will be contracted. Many of these people will be expected to join from school, colleges and universities, yet the industry has a communication problem and is competing with other, better equipped and better marketed sectors. Unless we can encourage the right new recruits into our sector then we will fail our customers and fail to benefit fully from the opportunities in front of us.
Kathryn Lennon-Johnson trained as a behavioural psychologist and set up Built Environment Skills in Schools ten years ago to support the transition of students into the construction sector. She has been working with schools, colleges, businesses and government authorities to enhance the experience of students in construction with the purpose of empowering the next generation of stewards of our built environment. This is a hugely important role as our sector is often mis-represented and poorly understood. When coupled with the fragmentation of the industry with companies operating in silos, enthusing and informing the next generation can be a real challenge.
Listen to this podcast to hear how the void between education and employment can be crossed. Hear how even small employers can make an awesome difference to student outcomes and how this can be used to inform their reputation and their procurement within the sector. Listen how to ensure that the work that you do carry out is not lost and can have a lasting impact. Kathryn brings here experience of working with over 4,000 schools to demonstrate that our marketing skills can inform our approach and that, like our customers, a transaction approach does not help deliver long term change.
Kathryn Lennon-Johnson | LinkedIn
Built Environment Skills in Schools + BUILD Marketing: Overview | LinkedIn
SEED Schools Engagement and Early Discovery: Overview | LinkedIn
Design Engineer Construct (DEC)