Foundations is Hobson & Porter’s initiative to create a sustainable workforce for the construction industry.
Foundations was launched by Hobson & Porter in 2016 after a growing realisation that the industry skills problem is much larger and more diverse than main contractors like ourselves could ever overcome by just promoting our own apprenticeships or training programmes. The industry has an age-old problem that industry newcomers or those considering a career within gravitate to the larger, most recognisable organisations. Those larger organisations are often the ones who also have the necessary resources and investments to promote their career opportunities. The tens of thousands of SME organisations in the supply chain unfortunately get overlooked and do not have the resource to promote themselves. This is where Foundations comes in. We recognised that those organisations most in need of new skills were in fact the worst-placed and most poorly resourced to do anything about it.
Three Winning Facts:
- There was a barrier preventing people getting live site experience and they’ve found a way to solve it with the up-coming, innovative ‘The Foundations Experience’ initiative. This will potentially enable thousands of construction students across Yorkshire and Humberside over the coming years to achieve their T Level qualifications. This is an initiative they hope to roll out across multiple colleges in the region
- Foundations now reaches thousands of young people each year and even when they don’t have a suitable vacancy for someone we meet who wants to join the industry, they work hard to find a company within our supply chain with a position to fill, which provides both employment opportunities for young people and attracts new talent into the construction industry. They are in this for the greater good.
- Foundations is a true collaboration, bringing together multiple stakeholders at various levels (framework leaders, employers, education bodies and trade and training associations) to collaborate and achieve the shared goals of bridging the skills gap and enhancing learning and training through employment-education links in construction and associated industries.
