A walk down any residential street will remind anyone just how much we rely on tradespeople. The gas repair van outside number 11, the decorator visible through the windows of number 17, the extension being fitted to number 36, the plumber at work outside number 40. And beyond that street we can see new homes and offices being built. Old homes need maintaining and upgrading while new homes need building.
This nation relies on tradespeople as much as (perhaps even more than) ever before. But this nation has a problem: we are simply not bringing through enough new tradespeople to meet our needs. In order to combat this, Which? is partnering with Access Training to offer placements for newly qualified traders, helping them to get real world experience in their trade and add their skills to the workforce as soon as possible.
The need for training
Homeowners, landlords, and tenants have experienced the level of demand and the heavy workloads first hand via the necessary wait for tradespeople. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that 76% of construction fiorms claim they are struggling to recruit the skilled people they need, according to research by City & Guilds, and that the ONS estimates that there are 33,000 vacancies in the construction sector alone. Demand won’t suddenly stop or slow down: vital home maintenance like gas and plumbing cannot not be done, for example.
Even if we just focus on new homes, the gap between supply and demand is stark. The Government’s pledge to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029 will require 239,300 new workers, the Construction Industry Training Board estimates. Without finding more effective and efficient ways to attract, train, and retain talent across the trades, we simply will not be able to meet the demand, and what is already a crisis will worsen.
The lack of skilled workers, though, is not for want of people eager to learn. The problem instead is that all too often their motivation is not matched by accessibility of training. 16 year olds, fresh from school, cannot be expected to travel upwards of an hour by public transport each way to and from a campus for training. The pool of future tradespeople should not be restricted to those who happen to live close to a college at the expense of those who find the prospect of commuting long distances at a young age daunting.
Not only is accessibility to courses at more locations needed, but a lack of teaching staff and facilities means that apprenticeships regularly run longer than the three years they are intended to. James, founder of an award winning company and a longtime advocate for apprenticeships, has known of courses that ended up running to nearly four years, only for a lack of facilities to mean that they could not do their end-point assessments, so apprentices only passed when it was finally outsourced to a private facility in in a different city.
Solving the problem
The current system, in short, makes it far too difficult for people to enter the trades. There are many highly motivated people wanting to learn or upskill themselves, but expecting them to overcome so many hurdles is simply unviable.
Adam, a tutor who also runs his own business, has seen it with his own eyes. “100% of people through that door are desperate for progression, to add a skillset, or even just control over their own future,” he says, “Leads to newly qualified, really hungry, engineers that are available. They want the opportunities and chances”
This is why Which? Trusted Traders has partnered with Access Training to offer placements for newly qualified traders, helping them to get real world experience in their trade. All members of the Which? Trusted Traders Scheme have been thoroughly vetted and passed a strict assessment; they are truly the gold standard of traders.
As part of this collaboration Access Training course graduates will be connected with a Which? Trusted Trader to complete a four week apprenticeship course. This practical experience with a knowledgeable and reliable mentor will increase their employability and allow them to begin building connections and references within the trader sector.
The student and tutor experience
Students enrol for a wide variety of reasons. Some are novices completely new to the trade industry; others are looking to develop a new area of expertise, wanting to diversify their work portfolio to compensate for quieter periods and increase income. For some, such as Gaby, a plumber who trained to become qualified with gas installation after noticing work often plateaued in the summer months, qualifying in an additional trade not only boosted her revenue but also actually gave her more flexibility with her schedule, allowing her to spend more time with her daughter.
As part of their Access Training course, students will be mentored by tutors, many of whom are still working professionals themselves, meaning their knowledge is fully up-to-date both practically and theoretically. They have experienced the training process themselves; they have a real understanding of how to best meet the students' needs. Tutors are all passionate about not only training the next generation of traders but also getting them excited about entering the sector. Adam, a tutor at Access Training, speaks on the benefits of being a tutor “During the day-to-day, you get used to drawing on your experience and using your engineering judgement. Teaching keeps you in touch with the basics, which are maybe more useful than we like to admit. Speaking with the students also challenges you. They ask difficult questions, and their enthusiasm is infectious; it keeps your excitement about the industry alive.”
As the students graduate from their course, they are required to undertake a placement. Just as they learn from the best tutors in the trade, Access Training wants them to be placed with outstanding businesses, making it a natural partnership with Which? Trusted Traders. As a further thank you for helping to train the next generation, Which? Trusted Traders who take on an apprentice will be given a £500 training credit with Access Training to upskill themselves or a member of their team, as both companies believe development and learning should never stop.
A brighter future
There is more than enough untapped potential to meet the ever increasing demand for tradespeople in this country. We have talented, highly motivated people who want to enter the trades. We have knowledgeable, relatable, skilled professionals who can unlock potential. The only thing we are missing is enough links between the two. If we can find a way to provide the training so many people want and need, there is a bright future ahead for the trades in Britain. A future where the grand building projects we need actually get built, where young people can take pride in jobs that also earn them the wages they deserve, and where we pass on, share, and grow the skills that make it all possible.
1. https://www.cityandguilds.com/news/july-2025/foundations-for-the-future