UK CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIRS INDUSTRY FACES PERFECT STORM DUE TO ‘ALARMING’ SKILLS GAP AS TRADE SECTOR VACANCIES HIT RECORD HIGHS

The new UK Trade Skills Index 2023 reveals an ‘alarming’ skills gap engulfing construction sector – with demand for skills outstripping supply, wage hikes for hard-to-find tradespeople, higher household costs for repairs, and Government housebuilding targets missed.

New report is released ahead of the launch of two major new projects being spearheaded by Checkatrade.com and HomeServe founder and entrepreneur Richard Harpin to get more young people into trades

The UK needs almost ONE MILLION new recruits in trades and construction over the next decade just to keep pace with demand, and with vacancies in the sector reaching record highs the industry is facing ‘a perfect storm’, new research has revealed.

The new report has highlighted an “alarming” skills gap engulfing the construction sector over the coming 10 years, with a drastic need for new recruits in trades and construction by 2032.

Of the 937,000 tradespeople needed to meet demand within the next decade, it said nearly a quarter of a million - 244,000 - must be qualified apprentices in order to prevent skills gaps worsening.

The UK Trade Skills Index 2023 has been commissioned by tradesperson directory Checkatrade.com and undertaken by leading independent macro-economic research firm Capital Economics.

The skills gap is being exacerbated by an ageing workforce, an exodus of EU workers post-Brexit, and the cost-of-living crisis.

The report’s findings have been described by entrepreneur and investor Richard Harpin, the founder of HomeServe, which acquired Checkatrade.com in 2017, as both “urgent and alarming”.

Together, Richard and Checkatrade.com are spearheading a series of new projects aiming to tackle the challenge, focused on school leavers and young people aged under 25.

In March, they will unite to launch “Get In”, a new campaign aimed at getting thousands more young people aged 16 to 25 into trades careers through apprenticeships. Get In will seek to capture young people’s CVs and connect them to opportunities within Checkatrade.com’s membership base, as well as large trade employers and SME trade businesses. The new campaign will be piloted in the South East before a planned national rollout.