DECEMBER 2017 | 43
Skills
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
DEAL OPENS DOORS
FOR APPRENTICES
ASW Property Services has signed an agreement with Family Housing Association - a registered
social landlord in Swansea - to maintain its 2,800 properties over the next four years.
The deal creates job security
for more than 100 staff employed
by ASW, a business which covers
Wales, the Midlands and the south
west of England. It will enable the
company to invest in apprentice-
ships and provides certainty and
a quality service for the tenants
of properties managed by Family
Housing Association.
The deal was signed by Antho-
ny Thomas, managing director of
ASW, and Karen Dusgate, chief
executive of Family Housing
Association, which develops and
manages homes for thousands of
people across south west Wales.
As a result of the agreement,
tenants will be able to access a
responsive, emergency hotline
available 24 hours a day, 365 days
a year, which they can call if they
have problems in their homes.
Emergencies will be attended
within two hours by ASW.
ASW will also be responsible for
refurbishing void properties when
tenants have moved out, making
them available as quickly as possi-
ble to the next residents. Its target
in terms of turnaround time is just
ten days – significantly faster than
the industry average.
The agreement also means that
ASW can invest in training a new
generation of apprentices. ASW’s
Thomas estimates that in the dura-
tion of the four-year deal, up to 16
apprentices will work on prop-
erties owned by Family Housing
Association.
Demand for workers continues to rise
Peace Recruitment Group, experts in
the built environment, has revealed that
its trades and labour department has
doubled in size over the last six months.
Tamara Jaberu, a director at Peace
who founded the Trades and Labour De-
partment in January 2012, believes this is
further evidence that the UK construction
sector is flourishing despite all the recent
negative headlines.
Tamara explains: “The construction sector
in the UK is definitely in a good place right
now, more work is coming into the market
and employers are looking to hire. Our
trades and labour department exceeded all
expectations last year, and as a result we
have hired three new recruits since April,
meaning we now have a team of six. This
enables us to provide a much fuller service
to Edinburgh and the Lothians, the Glas-
gow area and Aberdeen and Dundee. I’m
delighted to say we are on course to have a
record year again.”
Tamara adds: “The major challenge we
are facing in trades and labour just now is a
shortage of candidates. When I started the
department back in 2012, clients had their
pick of good quality candidates. However,
now this has almost spun on its head and
its the skilled candidates who now hold
most of the power. Firms can still find the
right people, but competition is fierce. Em-
ployers need to be aware that it may take
more time to find the right candidate, they
need to be flexible in what they are looking
for, and they need to put together as attrac-
tive a package as possible.”
www.peacerecruitment.co.uk
TRAINING PARTNERSHIP WILL
HELP HOUSING SUPPLY
Northumberland College has estab-
lished a training partnership with design,
manufacturing and training company ORCA
LGS Solutions. The business employs mod-
ern methods of construction to support gov-
ernment to increase UK housing supply.
According to the government, the UK
requires a million new homes by 2021. But
the Farmer Report, commissioned by the
Construction Leadership C