Hudson Contract supported this month’s Cross-Industry Construction Apprenticeship Task Force (CCATF) conference, bringing together employers, educators and training organisations to discuss the shortage of building talent – and how best to produce the skilled workers the industry needs.

More than 60 delegates from industry attended, and were able to put questions to organisations that included the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA), City & Guilds, and the Department for Education (DfE).

There were two main areas under the spotlight:

• The IfA’s role in supporting the transition of apprenticeship frameworks to standards
• A DfE’s update on the recently- announced technical level qualifications – T levels – with courses in construction due to begin in September 2020.

Event chairman Martyn Price commented:   “The calibre of the guest speakers along with the excellent contribution made by all the event sponsors and the passionate contributions from delegates combined to make our conference a useful think tank for everyone who is committed to bridging construction’s skills gap.  Together, we have taken a significant step forward to understand which elements of the sector need to take highest priority.

Hudson Contract Managing Director Ian Anfield, who attended the event, concluded:  “We are pleased to have sponsored an event connecting industry with educators, training organisations and government.  Our own Apprentice Sponsorship Scheme has been running since 2011, so we know first-hand how important it is to get vocational and technical education right in order to encourage greater numbers of young people to join our industry.”