BESA CALLS FOR ‘NO
DEAL’ SKILLS PLAN The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has urged the government to make urgent provision to avert potential workforce shortages in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit this month.
It backs recommendations made by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) to review the rules governing the 165,000 EU citizens currently employed by the construction industry to ensure valuable skills are not lost to the UK economy.
In particular, BESA believes the required qualification level for a skilled worker should be reduced to NVQ Level 2 and the salary threshold for a skilled worker be set well below the £30,000 currently planned by the government.
“There is a fundamental misunderstanding in Whitehall about
DESIGNER CONTRACTS
STRENGTHENS TEAM Designer Contracts has announced a new, senior appointment to support its continued success.
Lee Hassett joins the head office team as project executive with over 30 years’ experience in the flooring industry. With 11 years of operational expertise, Lee also has 19 years retail knowledge and has worked within the logistics sector.
Speaking on his appointment, Lee said: “I’m pleased to be part of Designer Contracts and its future growth strategy. I’ve been made to feel incredibly welcome and look forward to the new challenges that lay ahead.”
Designer Contracts MD Peter Kelsey commented: “Lee joins us with a wealth of knowledge within the industry, having previously been responsible for 170 retail units.
“Last year (2018) the company marked 25 years in business,
twitter.com/TContractFloors
what constitutes a skilled worker in construction-related trades,” said director of BESA Training Tony Howard. “Many of the people labelled as ‘low skilled’ by the Prime Minister recently, actually bring essential craft skills to our critical construction and infrastructure projects.
“At the moment, government Brexit policy risks excluding Level 2 tradespeople like plumbers, bricklayers and carpenters. Losing thousands of those could be catastrophic and put the delivery of many UK projects at risk.”
BESA has added its support to a CLC report, which is backed by more than 100 construction industry leaders, calling for the government and industry to work together to ensure that all of the eligible EU citizens currently living in the UK and working in the construction sector are able to register
revealing plans to double turnover from £40m to £80m and staff levels from 300 to 600 by 2023 and the appointment of Lee will help us to reach our target.”
Designer Contracts was recently named in the Business Reporter’s Best of British Campaign, which recognises success stories in British business. The accolade was awarded to just 10 companies in the UK.
www.designercontracts.com
NORCROS ADHESIVES PUSHES INTO FLOORING MARKET
WITH HEADLAM Manufacturer of preparation, fixing and finishing products for tiling and flooring installation Norcros Adhesives is extending its presence in the flooring market by forming a new partnership with Headlam.
Headlam is Europe’s largest distributor of floorcoverings, with 63 individual businesses in the UK, France, Netherlands and Switzerland. It is also a UK market leader, supplying flooring products to both the commercial and residential sectors.
for settled or pre-settled status.
It also calls for the short-term worker visa to be extended to 24 months to reduce the uncertainty being felt by many migrant workers and for mutual recognition of qualifications across the EU and UK in the event of a ‘no deal’.
https://www.thebesa.com/media/836602/clc-skills-brexit-group-report-and-recommendations-final.pdf
“We recognise the need for the industry to keep developing its own long-term training and recruitment strategies to replenish the ‘home grown’ pool of skilled labour, but we also have urgent short-term needs that could be seriously undermined without access to EU migrant workers,” said Mr Howard.
“We are fully committed to investing in apprenticeships and the training of UK-based workers, but the scale of the country’s built-environment commitments requires access to the widest possible skills base.”
www.theBESA.com/training
The new three-year agreement between the two companies means that Headlam will stock key products from the Norcros Adhesives range – principally levellers, floor preparation products and Norcros Pro Gyp Base for tiling on to anhydrite screeds.
Darryl Price, Commercial Director of Headlam UK said: “We have been particularly impressed with the quality of innovation in the Norcros Adhesives product range. The trend in the flooring market is towards increasingly technical system solutions. Norcros Adhesives have shown that they can deliver this in the tiling sector, so we are very happy to work with them, as they promote a similar innovative philosophy in the flooring market.”
Rob Kyle, Sales Director at Norcros Adhesives commented: “Headlam is a great brand to be working with. As we look towards increasing our presence in the flooring sector, we are confident that we will be able to replicate in flooring the level of innovation that we have been able to bring to the tiling market. We look forward to working closely with the team at Headlam over the next three years to get the Norcros Adhesives products out to the market.”
www.norcros-adhesives.com NEWS | 09
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
