Construction’s Olympian challenge

Following the success of London’s 2012 Olympic bid, the construction industry is gearing up for a huge raft of work in the form of sporting venues, infrastructure and housing. The event has created £10 billion of projects including 9000 new homes, 100 000 m2 of stadia and miles of road, rail and services infrastructure.

However, with current shortages in labour across the industry, can construction cope with the extra strain? Construction Industry Council chair, Stuart Henderson, said: “The 2012 Olympics will raise a challenge for the UK construction industry to deliver the infrastructure and buildings required. However, this adds real impetus to the already urgent aims of attracting new entrants, training and qualifying the workforce.”

SummitSkills has already started work on a project to map out the building services engineering skills required for the Olympic programme and to develop training schedules to deliver them.

Initially, the construction schedule will be broken down and the required skills forecasted. Developers and employers will then be consulted to determine the type and timing of job opportunities, along with specialist skills requirements.

SummitSkills operations director, Blane Judd, said: “The massive workforce requirement of the 2012 Games calls for a step change in the delivery of skills for the built environment. Addressing the issues is not a simple task but it is achievable.

“The event also presents a huge business prospect for firms in the sector, with numerous contracts available. Planning at this stage will allow labour to be sourced and skills to be developed, ensuring that firms can successfully adapt to take full advantage of the opportunities on offer.”

With these opportunities in mind, the Association For Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) is setting up two special industry groups to provide links with the Olympic delivery team. The Strategy Group will consist of leading figures from consultancy, construction, legal and financial sectors, while the Technical Group will comprise of experts in delivering sporting, leisure and Olympic infrastructure projects.