Miller Homes Pledges To Help Solve Industry Skills Gap

Miller Homes has pledged to work with its subcontractors to recruit and train more people to the highest standards, and help tackle the pressing home building skills gap head on.

Miller Homes is among the dozens of home builders that have signed up to the Home Building Skills Pledge, a set of five key actions developed by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) through its Home Building Skills Partnership and its members in recognition of the need to collaboratively tackle the nationwide home building skills shortage. It also recognises the importance of future proofing workforce skills – via new entry routes as well as developing existing talent. This will mean that quality homes can be built where and when they are needed.

All of HBF’s larger members have now signed up alongside an increasing number of medium and small members – meaning companies responsible for well over half the homes built in England are already committed.

The Skills Pledge covers five key areas: Collaborate and share; Train to a standard; Engage and support; Champion diversity and inclusion; and Promote careers. By signing up to Pledge, companies will also be supporting the HBF’s Home Building Skills Partnership and working to its shared goals.

Chris Endsor, Chief Executive of Miller Homes, said: “It is important that the industry comes together to tackle the skills shortage and we are pleased to show our support by signing up to the Home Building Skills Pledge.  We are committed to working with the Home Building Skills Partnership and our peers to help close the skills gap by attracting new talent into the industry and providing excellent opportunities for training and development.”

The Home Building Skills Partnership is a pan industry body funded by CITB and set up to tackle the industry’s skills shortage. The Partnership, set up 18 months ago is already starting to deliver on its objective of attracting and training the people the industry needs to deliver more, high quality homes in the future. In the last three months alone site managers and trainee site mangers have been put through over 200 training courses with another 550 planned for the next three months, whilst around 50 young people are currently being fast tracked into trade roles including bricklaying, dry lining and joinery.

Since Miller Homes joined the HBSP, it has supported the partnership in influencing the creation of new industry standards for skills and helped to identify the core skills required for key roles within the housing sector.

Speaking at the Home Building Skills Pledge’s official launch at the HBF’s annual Housing Market Intelligence event in London on October 5th, John Tutte, Group Chief Executive of Redrow Plc, and Chair of the Home Building Skills Partnership, said:

“If we are to develop the capacity and build the high quality homes the country desperately needs, we as an industry must commit to recruiting and training the right people – now and in future. The skills gap, whilst acknowledged by the sector, requires a collective and committed response if we are to tackle it sustainably in the long term.  The challenges posed by Brexit with regards to skills only make the need for effective collaboration more acute.

“It’s now the right moment to build on the achievements of the Home Building Skills Partnership over the last year and together send a powerful message, not only to the wider home building sector, but to government, education and careers providers, and of course, future recruits.”

Jenny Herdman, Director of the Home Building Skills Partnership, added: “It is extremely encouraging to see momentum building for collectively solving the housing skills crisis.  We face a huge challenge but also have a unique opportunity to make a difference, and be part of a combined demonstration that a career in house building provides huge opportunities and prospects.

“We want to see the whole industry getting on board in the coming weeks, and working to make the skills gap a thing of the past. We urge all home builders to join us and sign up now.”

Alok Sharma MP, Minister for Housing, said: “This Government is committed to building many more homes in the places people want to live across the country. To do that we need an industry that has the right skills to build, including new and innovative methods.

“Our Housing White paper set out our plans to work with the Construction Leadership Council to encourage more investment in training. I’m pleased the HBF and CITB have committed to deliver 45,000 skilled workers by 2019.

“The Home Building Skills pledge shows the industry working collaboratively to ensure they’ve got a sustainable supply chain, and I look forward to seeing it result in even more skilled workers on the ground ready to build the homes this country needs.”