FE News speaks to the MD of the market leader in the delivery of construction NVQs

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Helen Smith, Managing Director of Construction Learning World talks to FE News about the rapid growth of the Nottingham-based private training company, why they were named as one of the leading training providers by ALI, the importance of training their own staff and how women are moving forward in the building trade.

“Construction Learning World was founded in 2003. We started off with a small team of assessors but have grown rapidly and now have a nationally based team of almost 70 assessors who work throughout England, and are the market leader in delivery of NVQs in construction.

What we offer is a one-stop shop for employers. Because we have a national footprint large employers with a nationwide workforce find it beneficial working with us. The size and scale of our company means that large employers such as Laing O”Rourke, David Wilson and Persimmon Homes need only work with one learning provider to provide all their training needs. They may need to upskill their workforce on a particular project, or may ask us to support groups of their staff who work in specific trades ““ plastering, trowel trades, concreting etc., and we can offer all those qualifications. Although many of the 500 companies we work with are FTSE100 companies in the civil engineering and house building trade, we have employers of all sizes, down to very small operations and owner managed businesses. One of the reasons we are at the forefront in the market is that we adapt the service we offer to the differing needs of employers.

We work closely with companies to provide the training they require and tailor our services to meet each employer’s requirements. We offer on the job, work-based training and when an individual contacts us we link up with their employer to see if we could work with them to upskill their workforce.

Construction Learning World recognises the importance of training its own workforce and we have worked with Train to Gain on a national basis to ensure our team get the necessary training to ensure they are all fully qualified to carry out their jobs.

We take the quality of our service really seriously. All our team are really committed to making sure that we offer the very best service all round, and this was reflected in the grade that the ALI inspectors awarded us when we were inspected last year.

The construction industry is traditionally a male dominated one and Construction Learning World totally supports initiatives aimed at encouraging more women into the construction trade. We have carried out a specific and targeted recruitment campaign to broaden the diversity in our team and the appointment of our own female assessors was of particular importance.

Construction Learning World is continuing its recruitment and expansion plans to ensure that we can continue to meet the growing needs of our clients ““ The future looks really exciting for all our team with an exciting year ahead of us”.

Helen Smith, Managing Director, Construction Learning World