Fragmented and misunderstood – why our sector risks losing a generation

By Ashley Wheaton 2025-09-11T06:00:00

If we want young people to join our industry, we must show them an industry worth joining, says Ashley Wheaton, vicechancellor at the University of the Built Environment

With the built environment sector crying out for new talent, it is alarming to consider that our greatest challenge may simply be about perception. To a school-leaver aged 16 or 18, what are we? What actually is the built environment? What careers does it offer? Isn’t it just construction, hard hats and headlines about new homes?

It is this perception that we should look to tackle with immediate effect, starting with a call to present an outward-facing image of unity and of a single built environment “super-sector”. And there lies the rub – we often come across as fragmented silos rather than a whole coherent industry.

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