00:00Kent and Medway's construction industry makes up seven to eight percent of jobs here,
00:05around 58,000 roles in 2024. It's a sector that is welcoming new recruits,
00:11particularly those not in education, employment or training, otherwise known as NEETs.
00:17The Kent Construction Expo is the largest construction industry event in the southeast.
00:23There's 250 exhibitors here today and 3,000 people will pass through.
00:28Several businesses here are welcoming new apprentices, as the government makes hiring them more appealing.
00:34Lots of new houses and developments being built, so there's a lot of construction opportunities,
00:40particularly in your carpentry and your brick. And electrical and plumbing, they're all very, very popular.
00:47Everyone will always need an electrician and a plumber.
00:50And as a recruitment service, we support our employer every step of the way,
00:55funding, all the incentives that are out there.
00:59But to train for a building site isn't simple studying. You've got to get hands on.
01:05We offer primarily, I can focus on returning people to work and then capturing maybe the 16 to 24 year
01:13olds
01:13that are not in education anymore. We run courses, back to work courses as we call it.
01:19They can run anywhere from one week to three weeks, anywhere from a level one to a level two qualification.
01:26It's just about trying to scoop up people that have not finished education or perhaps have and then can't find
01:33their way into work.
01:35We've got our simulator. So, prior to anyone having any sort of training and getting out on site,
01:41this is, as you can see, it's a safer option to put people with complete novices.
01:46Yet again, it runs different programmes. We've got the excavator, we've got the dumper and the crane.
01:51So, the tracks with the pedals. And with the hand controls, it's operating the bucket, the arm and the boom.
01:57And yet again, the rotation, the 360 controls.
01:59With the controls, it will operate the slew and the, yet again, crane operations.
02:05It's depending on what the programme is.
02:07Yeah, if you're into computer games and everything else, it's definitely one of the biggest attractions here at the moment.
02:12So, yeah, they love it.
02:13Training pipelines and the number of apprentices are expanding.
02:16But the Kent and Victor Chamber of Commerce say Kent must scale up training to reach recruitment demand in the
02:23industry.
02:23Chloe Brewster for KMTV in Mainstone.
