A principal contractor has pledged to double its spending on helping to close the skills gap facing the construction sector.
Inco Contracts is increasing its investment in its Early Years’ Talent Academy to £150,000 a year as part of its 15th anniversary celebrations.
The sum will lead to a more comprehensive programme, offering apprenticeships, on-the-job learning, formal qualifications and one-to-one mentoring from its senior leadership team.
It has been specially designed to attract individuals into the sector and, importantly, retain existing talent who are being tempted into different opportunities.
Operations Director Sam Norton said: “Skills are a growing issue for our sector and our ability to grow. Rather than stand still, we decided to take positive action and create our own training programme.
“This has been a fantastic initiative for attracting young talent to join us as a fledgling contractor and we wanted to further renew our commitment to this. Our 15th anniversary felt like the perfect opportunity to extend it by increasing the funding to £150,000.”
The Early Years’ Talent Academy has been a ‘resounding’ success so far for the Cannock-based business, with six young people trained from the basics into highly skilled professionals with some already progressing into managerial positions.
Sam continued: “Annual growth is running at around 20 per cent and we can’t completely rely on the existing labour pool if we want to maintain this level of expansion. Growing our own talent is the preferred option to address the skills shortage and I’m delighted that we have given our proven scheme an ‘anniversary boost’.”
Managing Director David Cotterill added: “Our goal is to make construction more accessible, modern and rewarding. In a tight labour market, the companies that invest in people will be the ones that continue to thrive.”
Inco Contracts is a specialist in industrial, commercial and education refurbishment schemes across the UK.
Beyond the Early Years’ Talent Academy, the business also offers CPD for all of its 55-strong workforce as part of a regular six-month appraisal scheme.
The Inco Contracts team will be celebrating the company’s 15th anniversary with events including a celebration meeting and supplier golf day, both taking place this month.
