Category Archives: News

With the UK continuing to face a chronic shortage of skilled tradespeople, leading building engineering and fit-out specialist, JCA, looks at the changing landscape for the construction labour market and its future prospects.

A healthy construction sector is hugely important to the UK economy. It generates over £110 billion annually, equivalent to 7% of GDP and employs approximately three million people, a figure that’s representative of 10% of the nation’s workforce.

Construction is a high cost, high risk, long-term activity, so its performance is a good yardstick for the general health of the wider economy. When economic growth slows or declines, therefore, construction investment can dry up quickly but when the economy begins to recover, the industry can overheat just as fast.

Having shed over 140,000 jobs in the 2008 recession with a further cull during the 2012 dip, the sector has found itself in dire need of a range of both professional and practical skills, as the industry has begun to expand once more. It is thought that around 20% of all vacancies in the wider construction sector are persistently hard to fill. This is because businesses are finding it extremely challenging to recruit staff with the right skills, qualifications or experience but demand for such roles is forecast to rise even further this year. The impact of Brexit on the labour market could also weigh heavily on businesses, as around 45% of the UK’s 270,000 migrant construction workers are from EU countries.

Research by the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows that skills shortages are holding back the sector, with 62% of surveyors citing this issue as the major impediment to growth. That figure is up from 40% in 2012 when RICS began its quarterly UK Construction and Infrastructure Market Survey. To compound matters, the retirement rate is on the rise, as 22% of the sector’s workforce is over 50 years old with 15% in their sixties. In recent years, the industry has also lost out to competing sectors, where work is perceived to be more stable.

In tackling this major obstacle to future growth, we must also consider the image of the construction sector within the labour market and perhaps crucially, amongst the next generation of workers. Data from the Construction Industry Training Board shows that the overall appeal of the construction industry as a career option for young people is low, scoring 4.2 out of 10 in the 14 to 19-year old age group.

The Government’s introduction of the new Apprenticeship Levy in April 2017, paid at a rate of 0.5% by employers with a payroll of more than £3million per year, expects to raise over £3 billion a year by 2019-20 in order to fulfil its commitment to increasing vocational opportunities. The funds collected will be accessible to employers who want to purchase Apprenticeship training, regardless of whether they paid the levy or not.

For its part, JCA is exploring the possibility of introducing its own Apprenticeship and potentially graduate-based programmes with the objective of developing ‘home grown’ skills. The Stevenage-based building engineering and fit-out specialist has expanded significantly in the past two years and now employs almost 200 staff.

JCA strongly believes that apprentices have the potential to be the entrepreneurial, motivated business leaders of the future. The company acknowledges that there is a powerful connection between high-quality vocational training and employability but accepts there is a lot of work still to be done to achieve the parity of esteem between academia and Apprenticeships, in order to attract the brightest talent into our sector.

Carol Pape, JCA’s Human Resources Manager, said:

“We need to get young people interested in the sector or the skills gap will widen further. Investing in apprentices and graduates will bring skilled, home grown workers into the market, so we need to work together to appeal to both ends of the spectrum of construction employment. On one side, convincing skilled professionals to see the rewards of working on projects that build a sense of legacy. On the other, encouraging young people to commit to Apprenticeships secure in the knowledge that there is a clear pathway for personal and professional development within a dynamic industry.”

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Leading commercial fit-out contractor, JCA, considers how flexibility, staff wellbeing and integration of technology have become major design factors in creating happy and productive office environments.

Workspace design is evolving at a rapid pace, as organisations compete to attract and retain the brightest and best talent at a time when the UK’s skilled labour pool is reducing.

Whereas in the past office design focused on the space itself, interior designers creating the latest workspaces are tasked with developing environments that provide staff with a holistic space that’s comfortable, healthy, promotes positive thinking and enables them to be as creative and productive as possible.

As we have become more pre-occupied with getting the right work/life balance, so employers are increasingly looking at designing workplaces which encourage, rather than restrict social interaction. In larger firms, the conventional office canteen, for example, is steadily being replaced by concepts such as ‘juice bars’ and ‘coffee stations’ in order to promote staff engagement and the exchange of ideas throughout the working day, rather than just providing a place to eat. In this sense, the line between work, home and social life is becoming increasingly blurred, as workspace design centres around both the physiological and emotional needs of employees, as well as being a place of business.

The need to provide more holistic workspace has been reflected in recent research by Office Genie. A survey of 1,500 workers found that almost three-quarters were not provided with an area to relax and 45% felt that the design of their office did not promote collaboration.  Of course, older offices are finding this a particular challenge, as they were never designed originally with collaboration in mind.

Although having open space at work is not a new concept, its design and location within the office is now a vital consideration, for giving staff an alternative space in which to take time out or be creative.  The open nature of these spaces is also essential in order to promote more collaboration, by making them visible and easily accessible.

Conventional meeting rooms are also being reconsidered with a growing trend of companies tearing down walls in order to promote a culture of teamwork, openness and transparency.  Enclosed rooms and cubicles are being replaced with social spaces and open ‘meeting zones’.  Such areas are often defined by divider panels made from natural materials such as bamboo, or sometimes display units, different floorcoverings and brightly coloured furnishings.

While workspaces have always provided dedicated rest areas for staff, some companies are looking to boost performance by creating ‘recharge spaces’ as a means of improving productivity. The thinking behind this trend reflects the simple concept that tired staff are less productive.  This idea has already gained traction with businesses in many sectors of industry, introducing everything from giant bean bags for power naps, meditation spaces, in-house gyms and even saunas.  And while some companies might see a recharge space as a luxury, firms such as Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Unilever are reaping the benefits of allowing the staff the time and space to recoup.

Use of colour, varying textures and finishes in the work environment have also taken prominence through the emergence of ‘biophilic’ office design, which articulates the relationship between nature, human biology and the built environment. It’s based on the principle that we have a genetic connection with the outside world, so for the benefit of our wellbeing, we should be bringing more natural elements such as wood and stone into the workspace.  As a result, use of natural materials has become another increasing trend, to include even the planting of trees in areas with high amounts of natural light. Bringing the outdoors indoors, therefore, is something of a mantra within the design community.

As our workplaces continue to evolve, it’s important to remember that design should be unique to a specific organisation, as opposed to a ‘one size fits all’ approach.  As a leading workspace fit-out and refurbishment contractor, JCA offers a complete bespoke service for all types of premises.

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Responsibility for maintaining the office locations of one of the UK’s biggest insurance businesses has been handed to leading building engineering, fit-out and maintenance specialist, JCA, following a competitive tender.

Starting this month, the contract covers more than 150,000 ft² at the company’s headquarters in the City of London, as well as satellite locations elsewhere in the capital and the South East.

A resident-based team of JCA maintenance personnel will provide round-the-clock support with responsibility for mechanical and electrical upkeep, fabric maintenance, reactive repairs and any other minor works.

Overseeing the new contract is Ian Coleman, Operations Director for JCA’s Managed Services Division, which has seen significant expansion of its onsite maintenance portfolio during 2017. He commented:

“JCA is proud to have such a major player in the global insurance market as a new client. With a reputation for engineering, fit-out and maintenance excellence, we anticipate further growth in resident-based service contracts during 2018. A number of large scale engineering projects, involving the installation and maintenance of critical infrastructure has also facilitated a recruitment drive for maintenance engineers.”