BLACKWOOD Plant Hire has launched a new training academy to help alleviate sector skills shortages and invest in the future workforce.
The Stewarton-based business revealed its new Blackwood Training Academy will provide relevant training to inexperienced plant operators and help them gain the confidence and qualifications required to prosper in the industry.
From a new six-acre training ground, operators will benefit from hands-on experience of carrying out a wide range of tasks from digging house foundations to lifting and moving trench boxes and sheet piles.
A brand-new Hitachi ZX130 has been purchased to support the facility, while two trainers and an office manager have already been installed.
MD Paul McCormack told Project Plant the firm has ambitions to expand its offering further in 2023 with new courses available to external clients.
“There’s a massive skills gap in the market,” Paul said. “(When I was starting out), you got the chance to get a bit of learning on site, but sites don’t have the time to teach you. If you’re hiring a machine, you don’t expect a trainee. We’re trying to bring people in. There’s plenty of people, but they’ve all got CPCS Red Cards and no experience. We’re trying to bring the guys with Red Cards on and get them that experience.”
The academy features a 12-seat classroom, with plans afoot for a second classroom to be added next year to carry out external training for different customers.
Before Christmas, the focus will be on internal training for operators with Red Cards including a Blackwood Plant Hire apprentice who has just finished his 12-week stint at CITB’s Bircham Newton college. The aim is to get operators to a level where they can successfully work on sites.
Paul revealed feedback from those in the industry who have heard about the plans has been hugely positive, with text messages of support and comments that this type of resource is ‘long overdue’ in the sector.
Like many construction businesses, Blackwood has found it challenging at times to recruit experienced operators. Paul hopes the training academy will benefit not just Blackwood Plant Hire but the industry as a whole. He cited a general shortage of workers across the entire construction industry and has advice for young people potentially considering a career in the sector.
“There’s a skills gap over a 15-20-year period,” he said. “When I left school in the late 90s, you were pushed to go to university. There’s a massive skills gap for joiners, electricians, bricklayers, scaffolders.
“Construction is a great industry to be in. I’ve been in it all my life. You’re outside keeping fit, it’s good socially, and you can make good money.”
• For more information about the training academy, email info@blackwoodtraining.co.uk
