Bristol’s construction bonanza has prompted city builders Helm Construction to accelerate its recruiting programme – aimed at attracting former construction workers shed during the downturn back to the industry.
Chief executive Gary Sheppard said the latest construction sector performance figures revealed an industry hitting activity levels not seen since 2004.
“But we hadn’t anticipated we would be returning to pre-recession levels quite so soon.”
With tenders tripling in six months Helm Construction have called on experienced workers who had left the construction sector to take up their trowels once again.
“Age isn’t a barrier to what we do. While we have built a reputation for encouraging youngsters into the industry it’s sometimes good to call on different skillsets.
“The construction sector shed hundreds of thousands of workers during the recession so there is a whole generation out there that can help us fill the gap.”
Mervyn Hames is among Helm’s latest recruits – although over the official age of retirement he has just taken up a part-time position with the firm’s after sales customer service team.
“This is an increasingly important role for us as it’s key to our reputation that we not only complete projects on time and to a high finishing standard but ensure that we have the skill and resource to follow up on any minor snags that may occur promptly and efficiently.
“This means that we can get other team members concentrating on what they do best, starting on new plots and construction projects whilst ensuring clients and customers are provided longer term quality care support.”
Gary Sheppard was commenting on the latest figures from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply’s monthly purchasing managers index, which jumped to 57.3 in July – well above the 50 mark that signals expansion.
Gary Sheppard said: “A closer look at the figures shows that the index is a shade higher than the figures for January 2004.
“Either way, it’s clear we’ll need more of everything to cope with this level of demand. Although our in-house training programme has served us well providing us with fully qualified workers we won’t hesitate to look at the other end of the generation gap to ensure we have the right people in place to meet and surpass customer expectation.
“So far we have increased staffing levels by more than 20 per cent.”