MOD launches Building Beyond Service to train veterans for construction jobs
A new MOD and Places for London partnership is training veterans to operate plant machinery and linking them with construction employers.
Veterans in London are being trained to operate plant machinery through Building Beyond Service, a new programme from the Ministry of Defence and Places for London, the property company owned by Transport for London. The first group of eight is already training, and the programme aims to help up to 60 veterans into construction jobs in its first year.
Training runs through the Places for London Skills Academy, delivered by The Skills Centre with L Lynch Plant Hire & Haulage. The programme covers:
- An intensive, hands-on course on the plant machinery employers are struggling to find trained operators for.
- CPCS qualifications, the card scheme widely used on UK construction sites to show a plant operator is competent.
- Direct contact with employers and live vacancies.
- Support to build a long-term career in construction once training is finished.
Why construction
The MOD has tied the scheme to its Defence Housing Strategy. Construction is short of skilled workers, and the homes London needs depend on people trained to build them. Places for London says its skills hubs have trained more than 12,000 people and helped more than 5,000 into careers in the built environment.
Calvin Bailey MBE MP, the Minister for Veterans and People and himself a former Service member, said the hard part is often “making sure those skills are recognised and creating a clear route into civilian careers”.
Ilaitia Sukanavere, a former sergeant in the Royal Logistic Corps and one of the first eight, said the course had built his confidence on heavy machinery and given him recognised qualifications to take into civilian work.
A pilot that could grow
The first year is a pilot. Places for London wants the programme to reach beyond plant operations into a wider range of built-environment careers, and some of those trained are expected to go on to work on housing and infrastructure projects in London.
Building Beyond Service sits alongside the existing routes: the Career Transition Partnership for Service leavers, and Op ASCEND, the free careers service for veterans and their families run by the Forces Employment Charity.
How to register interest
Places on future courses have not yet been advertised. Veterans who would like to hear about them can register their interest with The Skills Centre, which is delivering the training.
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