Maria Coulter, founder of the Construction Coach, has 1,000 spots on a new course for SME construction and trade businesses to enhance their IT training
The construction IT skills course is funded by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), and is titled ‘Solving Tech for Small Builders.’
The programme covers several aspects of IT, and aims to help businesses upgrade from old practices to more efficient and cost-effective ones.
The lessons are recorded to watch back at any time
Lessons within the programme include methods to find where businesses are losing time, money, and reputation, as well as advice on choosing the right tech for the business (including AI assistants and project management systems), and how to use tech to more effectively price projects, manage client relationships, and the workforce.
The course will also cover building or joining a community, with course participants being encouraged to share ideas and solutions to issues with each other for success.
Maria said: “Understanding IT and how it can help your small business can be the difference between success and failure. This is about helping builders stand out through professionalism, pricing confidence and better systems.
“The right technology, used in the right way, can save money, free up time and give you the confidence to grow. It is not about pushing one piece of software for everyone. It is about finding what works best for each business.
“I love the industry, but the culture was way behind, and I knew we needed to get better at how we do business. So I took the leap and founded Construction Coach, which offers coaching and training programmes, and since then have never looked back.”
For more information about the course, including registration details, please visit this link.
Skills in general are a major issue in the industry
Writing for PBC Today in February, Niamh Evans of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) discussed whether the government’s Plan for Change would effectively tackle the problems the industry faces.
Niamh wrote: “On paper, it’s a bold vision for a sector pivotal to the UK’s future, yet it is no secret within the construction industry that this is a mighty ambition to work towards.
“A glaring issue is workforce capacity. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) forecasts a need for 250,000 additional workers by 2028 to meet demand. With this prediction made prior to the 2024 General Election, there is high chance a revised forecast will predict a larger shortfall with the government’s ambitious plans.
“But even with a clearer idea of how many workers will be needed, the question remains: will the government’s proposed solutions to the construction skills crisis measure up?”
Seven months later, to the present, the latest State of Trade survey shows that, in spite of net employment change growing by 26% and 39% of firms seeing their workforce increase, there are still issues in hiring workers with certain skillsets, including:
- Carpenters (with 33% of firms reporting difficulty in hiring)
- Roofers (32%)
- Plumbers/HVAC (28%)
- General labourers (29%)
- Bricklayers (28%)
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