High-Quality Lighting Solutions from Offices to Retail Spaces

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Transforming Workspaces: High-Quality Lighting Solutions from Offices to Retail Spaces

TRILUX, a leading provider of innovative lighting solutions, is proud to announce the successful culmination of a seven-year collaboration with luxury Polish brand WITTCHEN. This partnership has transformed WITTCHEN’s headquarters, encompassing office spaces, logistics, and warehouse areas, with superior, energy-efficient lighting that enhances working conditions while minimising power consumption. This achievement has also earned WITTCHEN significant energy efficiency certifications.

WITTCHEN, renowned for its exclusive leather clothing, accessories, and suitcases, operates its headquarters and distribution centre from Palmiry, near Warsaw. Committed to creating a comfortable, inspiring workplace and reducing CO2 emissions, WITTCHEN undertook a comprehensive modernisation of its lighting systems, turning to TRILUX for its expertise.

The collaboration commenced in 2017 with TRILUX developing a bespoke lighting concept for WITTCHEN’s new 3,000-square-metre office building and outlet. Prioritising high lighting quality for employee well-being and safety, aesthetic luminaire design and high energy efficiency, TRILUX installed 544 lighting solutions. This included the award-winning SOLVAN FLOW pendant luminaires, enhancing the office’s interior elegance, and 60 CANILO track spotlights, showcasing WITTCHEN’s luxury products in the outlet.

 

Following the successful office project, TRILUX extended its involvement to WITTCHEN’s logistics centre, installing nearly 300 E-LINE NEXT LED continuous line luminaires across the new 8,500-square-metre facility. With an energy efficiency of up to 190 lm/W and a lifespan of 70,000 hours, these lights ensure consistently low operating costs and exceptional lighting quality. For the warehouse refurbishment, TRILUX provided a combination of E-LINE NEXT LED, MIRONA FIT LED high-bay luminaires, and DEVEO FIT LED moisture-proof luminaires, all managed via the TRILUX LIVELINK light management system.

 

“Throughout the various project phases, we consistently addressed challenges and met WITTCHEN’s needs with solutions that offered long-term investment value,” said Marcin Szymanski, Project Manager at TRILUX.

 

 

Modernising the warehouse lighting and implementing a light management system significantly improved lighting quality and reduced electricity consumption by 120 MWh per year. This efficiency led to WITTCHEN receiving Energy Savings Certificates, accelerating the return on investment. Additionally, the reduction in peak power consumption enabled the installation of a dedicated electric vehicle charging station on the company premises for public use.

 

Hubert Pienkowski of WITTCHEN commented,

“As demanding customers, we value the quality of the products and services we receive. In evaluating potential lighting suppliers, TRILUX met our expectations with its product quality, punctual delivery, competitive prices, and technical support.”

CLICK HERE to learn more about TRILUX

 

 

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Solar Farms or Dependence on Putin

 ‘we can’t carry on as we are’, Rachel Reeves insisting that the UK is in dire need of more energy infrastructure

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has a simple message to those who oppose the government’s plans for three new giant solar farms – not building new energy infrastructure will put us “at the mercy” of foreign dictators.

The move, which could power more than 400,000 homes, was welcomed by campaign groups and industry figures, but it is not without its opposition. Both Suffolk and Cambridgeshire County Councils have opposed the Sunnica solar farm scheme on their borders.

Tory West Suffolk MP Nick Timothy told the BBC the decision to green-light the 2,500-acre project was “quite disgraceful and quite arrogant”, arguing it would divide villages and affect a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Asked if she thought people are going to have to “suck it up” and “tolerate things in their local communities that they don’t want” in the interest of growing the economy, Reeves said the new Labour government will have to make “tough decisions”.

“We can’t carry on like we are. We can’t carry on not building energy infrastructure and not building housing,” she told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

“Because if we carry on like we are, energy bills are going to continue to go through the roof, we’re going to continue to be reliant on Putin and dictators around the world for our basic energy needs. I’m not willing for our country to be at the mercy of dictators in that way.”

Source: Yahoo News

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Drones could support a new UK housing boom

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

by Joshua Krook, David Bossens and Peter Winter

 

The UK’s new Labor government has pledged to build 1.5 million homes during its first term in office. To achieve this, it promises planning reform and the reintroduction of local housing targets. Yet little attention has been given to the role of new technologies.

Drones have the potential to transform the construction industry in the UK. However, our recent study in ACM Journal on Responsible Computing reveals that laws governing commercial drone deployment in the UK remain conflicting, chaotic, and sometimes, contradictory.

A drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), is a remote-controlled flying machine often equipped with a video camera or sensors. In construction, drones can monitor site progress, conduct safety inspections and even lift heavy materials, with some models capable of lifting over 20kg.

This makes them a viable, cheaper and safer alternative to human construction workers for certain tasks. For instance, drones could reduce the incidence of workers falling from heights, the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry. They can also lower the cost of site monitoring at night and perform safety inspections over large areas of land, aiding in the maintenance of energy pipelines and other infrastructure projects.

Despite these advantages, the UK’s drone policy is a patchwork of local bylaws, national legislation, and retained European Union (EU) rules, creating a confusing landscape for companies to navigate.

For example, to operate a 250g drone in a busy urban area, a company must register the drone, undergo pilot training, secure insurance, and obtain operational approval from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). This involves designating a flight plan, conducting risk assessments and completing other administrative steps.

Companies must then consider legislation on privacy, data, harassment (for drones that use cameras), noise and human rights, including the potential redundancy (or reskilling) of human workers.

Specific laws also apply to drones in construction, including lifting regulations, worker health and safety laws, and laws governing the transport of various construction materials and substances. Some of these laws differ on a local, national and international level.

This increases the regulatory burden on construction companies, making it more challenging to operate efficiently. Paperwork for the CAA’s approval process for higher-risk commercial use cases can introduce delays to large-scale construction projects. Currently, there is minimal transparency on which projects get approved or denied, leaving business uncertain about their investments until approval is granted.

New framework

Our study proposes creating a new national framework for commercial drone deployment, encompassing all benefits and risks under a single law. We suggest that certain use cases, particularly in regional areas, be greenlit quickly and by default, even for heavier drones.

Line-of-sight requirements—where operators must maintain a line of sight with their drone at all times—should be relaxed in hazardous areas. This could actually enhance worker safety by allowing drones to operate independently without requiring workers to follow them into dangerous situations.

In addition to humans, the law must also protect flying animals (such as birds and bats) and insects (such as butterflies and bees), especially those that are in danger of extinction.

The environmental impact of drones needs to be carefully evaluated, including the risk of fire if drones are carrying chemicals or other dangerous materials.

The UK government should leverage national scientific and technical expertise to produce how-to guides, compliance manuals, and other tools to expedite the approval process.

These resources would allow best practices to proliferate in the industry. Off-the-shelf flight paths, algorithms and application programming interfaces (APIs)—a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other—should be available for companies to operate in designated zones without lengthy documentation processes.

Basic plans should be made for drone “elevators” to operate internally in construction sites, to lift heavy materials between floors.

Unifying laws

National legislation could streamline all the attempts to mitigate the risk posed by drones into a single unified law. This would address privacy, noise, safety, human rights concerns, and the environment in one go.

This would include noise profiling, to ensure that drones operating in cities meet specific maximum noise levels. It would also encompass clearer guidance for businesses on the uses of drones that were permitted and those that are prohibited. A new drone law for commercial use could also specify technical requirements, safety features, privacy protocols, and cybersecurity measures to keep hackers out.

The current laws governing drone use are based on the notion that a human decides the drone’s trajectory. As AI becomes more integrated into decision making and moves towards full autonomy, some thought will be required about regulating AI itself.

Who will be responsible if a control program does not work as intended? What kind of disclaimers are needed? Another consideration is that AI techniques are based on statistics over limited data. This means that they may never achieve the ISO safety standards that form vital benchmarks for the construction industry.

Integrating drones into the UK’s construction industry could significantly benefit a new housing boom, providing cheaper, safer, and more efficient construction processes. However, the government must embrace this technological revolution and establish a more robust drone policy and regulation to pave the way for future advancements.

 

Source: Techxplore

 

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The Energy Policy Shifts

The newly elected Labour government has laid out its plans to boost clean energy, but questions remain about the future of North Sea oil and gas.

Petroleum production in the waters between the UK and Norway peaked some 20 years ago, with no prospect of getting back to previous highs regardless of government policy. Yet the offshore industry still supports more than 200,000 jobs and adds billions of pounds to the nation’s GDP, giving it serious economic weight even in its twilight years.

A year ago, the Conservative government estimated that out of the 283 then active UK North Sea fields, about 65% will have ceased production by 2030. Then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sought to prolong the industry’s life by handing out fresh drilling licenses, but Labour’s Ed Miliband, the new secretary of state for energy security and net zero, is focused on delivering a “clean power mission” that favors greener alternatives.

What does this policy shift mean for UK oil and gas production, and the nation’s carbon emissions?

License to Drill

Since the 1960s, companies seeking to explore for oil and gas in the UK North Sea have needed a drilling license from the government. To get this, they must bid in an auction for a block, which costs £9,000 ($11,700) whether they get one or not. If successful, they then have the exclusive right to the area for a set amount of time, while paying rent and an annual levy to the government, depending on the size and age of the license.

Since late 2022, when the Conservative government launched the first new licensing round for several years, these drilling permits have been the focus of the debate about the future of the UK’s offshore industry.

Sunak’s government routinely argued that new oil and gas licenses were crucial for UK’s economic and energy stability, offering hundreds of additional blocks and seeking to mandate further annual auctions. The move met with both internal and external opposition, with Tory Member of Parliament Chris Skidmore quitting in protest that the country was backing away from its climate commitments.

The entrance of a Labour government this month brings an end to the Tory plan for annual auctions, but new Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pledge not to revoke existing drilling permits is set to leave intact the dozens of new oil and gas licenses offered by Sunak.

In May, North Sea Transition Authority completed the final tranche of the 33rd oil and gas licensing round, which opened in late 2022, offering companies 31 permits. That followed 27 licenses offered in October and 24 in January.

After the change of government, only a “handful” of applications from the 33rd round have yet to be decided, according to the NSTA.

Windfall Tax

Sunak’s government imposed a windfall tax, called the Energy Profits Levy, on the North Sea oil and gas industry in May 2022 as companies’ earnings surged alongside fuel prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Labour pledged to extend the levy until the end of the current parliament and increase the rate from 35% to 38%, bringing the total headline rate of tax on oil and gas profits to 78%.

The party also vowed to tighten up the rules around investment allowances that companies can offset against their tax bills, which it described as “unjustifiably generous.” It estimated these changes would raise a further £1.2 billion in annual revenue from the industry.

North Sea Production

Assuming the Labour government sticks to its licensing pledge, what does the future of UK oil and gas production look like?

Even if the new licenses are drilled and result in discoveries that are commercially viable for development, they would only serve to slightly slow the North Sea’s long decline. UK production would remain at just a small fraction of its peak.

UK Energy Security

The UK accounts for 0.7% of global oil production and 0.8% of natural gas, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an international watchdog. The country’s output has little influence over major benchmarks such as Brent or West Texas Intermediate crude, so it will remain at the mercy of swings in international energy prices regardless of how much can be squeezed out of the North Sea in its final years.

When it comes to energy security, the impact would also be minimal. About three quarters of UK energy comes from oil and gas, 40% of which is currently imported, according to Offshore Energies UK.

Carbon Emissions

Supporters of greater restrictions on North Sea oil and gas licenses argue that it would set an important example to the rest of the world, securing the UK’s place at the spearhead of emissions reductions.

“An end to UK exploration would send a clear signal to investors and consumers that the UK is committed to the 1.5C global temperature goal,” said the Climate Change Committee, a think tank.

But with countries like China emitting carbon at rate as much as 30 times greater than the UK, an end to North Sea drilling would make little real difference to the pace of global warming. It could even lead to more emissions if the UK replaced domestic production with more carbon-intensive imports, such as liquefied natural gas.

“Evidence on new UK oil and gas production is not clear-cut,” according to the Climate Change Committee. “The UK will continue to be a net importer of fossil fuels for the foreseeable future, implying there may be emissions advantages to UK production replacing imports.”

Source: Energy Connects

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Combating Construction Insolvencies

 

Government needs to improve access to funding to combat rising construction insolvencies

In June 2024, the number of registered company insolvencies in England and Wales was 2,361, 16% higher than in May 2024 (2,040) and 17% higher than the same month in the previous year. Company insolvency numbers also remained much higher than levels seen during the Covid-19 pandemic and between 2014 and 2019.

The construction industry experienced the highest number of insolvencies in the 12 months to May 2024, reaching a total of 4,287.

Commenting on the latest construction insolvency statistics Kelly Boorman, national head of construction at RSM UK, said:

‘As expected, the construction industry maintained the highest number of insolvencies above any other industry in the 12 months to May 2024. Funding is still tight for construction businesses, with added cost pressures due to geopolitical uncertainty in the run up to the General Election. Although inflation is showing signs of easing, businesses are still facing additional financial challenges including high interest rates, payment terms stretching the supply chain, as well as accumulated debt and falling cashflows from legacy contracts.’

‘However, with the new government’s commitment to ‘get Britain building’ for economic growth through the reintroduction of mandatory housing targets and planning reform, there needs to be focus on supporting distressed businesses and protecting labour. Government needs to reform payment terms and access to funding, especially for smaller and newer businesses, who would really benefit from continued improvements in payment practices. This would help to create fairer trading environments, with access to funding enabling innovation and efficiency, ensuring government delivers on its plans to accelerate housebuilding with 1.5m new homes over the next five years.

Source: RSM
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YMCA MK scores green roof first


Green roofs are permanent, right? Wrong – and the recent World Green Roof Day event on the top of Milton Keynes’ £13 million YMCA building provided a brilliant opportunity to see at close quarters how flexible, beautiful and relocatable they can be. 

 

The nine-storey YMCA MK became the first building in the UK to be topped off with a green roof moved from one building to another, in this case from former council offices in the city to the new-build YMCA, which provides almost 200 apartments for its residents plus offices, community facilities, a cafe, nursery and social enterprise spaces.

Each month YMCA MK holds a community lunch, with June’s dedicated to World Green Roof Day and, fittingly, held on its rooftop to allow city dignitaries and visitors to see at first hand how a living roof can be incorporated into a build project and find out more about the many benefits they deliver, from supporting pollinators and insects to helping prevent flooding by managing stormwater run-off, cooling buildings/cities and improving air quality.

Dubbed ‘The Green Roof Project’, the installation has played an important role for YMCA MK, with a key part of the socially responsible and eco friendly project involving the training and certification of young people in the installation and maintenance of green roofs, giving them a qualification and career path. They also have a quiet, calming space to make use of, growing fruit and vegetables, keeping bees, learning about biodiversity etc, as well as aiding their mental well-being.

Milton Keynes regularly claims top spots in listings for the UK’s greenest city, with councillors having stated their aim to make it one of the greenest cities in the world and be carbon negative by 2050. Living roofs play a starring role in this aspiration, with councillors describing The Green Roof Project as ‘an asset to the community’ and  ‘key pillar’ of the city’s drive to be more environmentally friendly. Developers are being encouraged to incorporate green roofs into as many commercial and domestic projects as possible, converting unused flat roofs into biodiverse spaces blooming with bee-friendly sedum or wildflowers.

A leading light in this greening movement is Chris Bridgman of city-based ‘gardens in the sky’ specialist installers Bridgman & Bridgman, which trained and supported the YMCA residents to first install the green roof on former council offices at Saxon Court and then lift and relocate it less than a mile to their new building.

Key to the success of the project was utilising a modular green roof system with all elements (including substrate and plants) contained within one-man lift trays. The award-winning M-Tray solution from British manufacturer Wallbarn was chosen, allowing the green roof sections to be relocated with little or no disturbance to the plants.

Chris said:

“M-Tray allowed us to quickly lift and transport. It is totally unique in that way. You can take M-Tray and turn roofs green overnight.”

Wallbarn director Julian Thurbin and the relocated M-Tray on the roof of YMCA MK

Wallbarn director Julian Thurbin visited site on a number of occasions to see work progressing:

“Seeing M-Tray installed first on the roof of Saxon Court and then after being moved to YMCA MK was a first. The trays look great, with gorgeous flowering sedum and wildflowers bringing colour, texture and habitats for a wide variety of pollinators and insects. We’re delighted to support Chris and his team by donating the M-Tray and it was great to return and see it – quite literally – blooming. It just demonstrates how versatile the system is and how easy it is remove and re-lay.”

Julian and his team are no strangers to greening more unusual spaces. Working with out-of-home advertising specialist Clear Channel they have pioneered the installation of green roofs on to bus stops, with many hundreds of square metres of M-Tray topping off transports shelters up and down the country, creating ‘bee super highways’ in urban settings and softening hard city landscapes.

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Cautious Warning After Door Fatality

DHF issues caution following sectional door fatality and subsequent fine

 

Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) has urged caution with improper installation, maintenance and specification following the tragic death of thirty-three-year-old Mark Mathers who was strangled by his hoodie when it became hooked and wrapped around the balancing system of a sectional door he was working on at Specialist Cars Volkswagen in Aberdeen.

 

The incident, which took place on 15 September 2018, resulted whilst Mr Mathers was replacing a broken sectional door spring.  The court case earlier this month resulted in a £165,000 fine for the door company concerned.

 

Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard  that Patrick Forman Industrial Doors had neglected to make a sufficient assessment of the safety risks faced by its employees, such as those associated with door springs.  The company also pleaded guilty to failing to implement and maintain a safe system of work for staff while repairing and maintaining doors.  It also failed to provide the necessary information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure the safety of its personnel when working with the door springs in question.  Sheriff Christine McCrossan told the court that it is the ‘duty of every employer to ensure the health and safety of all its employees’, adding that ‘it is an offence to fail to discharge that duty’.

 

“This tragedy could very well have been avoided had a safe system been put in place,”  explains DHF’s Senior Training & Compliance Officer, Nick Perkins.  “The court heard that Mr Mathers had been replacing a sectional door spring with a colleague when his hooded top got caught and wound around the spring, choking him.  The work was being carried out while one of two springs was still under tension; the tension was inadvertently released and this resulted in fatal injuries.

“To avoid a repetition of such an incident, we strongly urge installation and maintenance companies that, in all circumstances, all of the tension on all of the springs must be removed carefully and methodically, using the correct specification properly fitting tensioning bars or other task specific tools and methodology as a first step before any further work is undertaken.  Appropriate clothing, personal protective equipment, and safe access equipment are also vital to ensure the safe execution of door maintenance tasks.  Companies are reminded that adequate risk assessment and creation of corresponding method statements (RAMS) are necessary for most tasks on site under management of health and safety law.”

 

 

For installation and maintenance companies in the field of industrial & garage doors, DHF provides safety and legislation training.

CLICK HERE for further guidance

 

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LONDON FLOOD RISKS

London is not prepared for another major surface water flooding incident

Despite greater coordination of stakeholders since the floods of 2021, London is not prepared for another major surface water flooding incident and lives and livelihoods are at risk.

Flooding poses a lethal risk to Londoners. In November 2023, the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency told the Public Accounts Committee:

 

“What genuinely keeps me awake at night is surface water flooding. In July, we saw a tragic incident with two deaths in Liverpool. As a society, we have to take that much more seriously. It is difficult to forecast these very intense rain cells, and often we do not have the necessary warning systems.”

 

Once again this is a nationwide problem with London-specific considerations. In July 2021, London was hit by two extreme rainstorms; some parts of the city received. more than twice the average July rainfall in two hours causing major disruption and over 2,000 properties flooded with stormwater and sewage. The voluntary London Surface Water Strategic Group is good, but is not currently moving at the pace needed.

 

 

 

 

Download The London Climate Resilience Review final report here. 

 

 

 

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BARRATT AND WREKIN PARTNER ON SUSTAINABLE INITIATIVE

Dave Sanders and Alex Gardiner, Wrekin, on site at Kings Park where the new gully grates have been installed

TO DRAW attention to the damage litter causes to the UK’s waterways, lakes, and oceans, leading housing provider Barratt Homes and specialist civils provider Wrekin Products has partnered on an initiative – ‘The Sea Starts Here’ – to educate the public.

 

The campaign’s message will be featured prominently on Wrekin gully grates in Barratt’s Kings Park, a David Wilson Homes development in Macclesfield. It aims to raise awareness of how small pieces of litter can snowball into lasting environmental effects. To further grab attention, Kings Park gully grates have been painted a stark bright blue.

 

Keep Britain Tidy estimates that the UK discards a staggering 30 million tonnes of litter annually, incurring a cleanup cost of £1 billion. Shockingly, nearly half of this litter (14m) ends up contaminating our rivers and canals, as reported by the Canal & River Trust. This ongoing damage has led to a situation where none of our waterways are currently classified as being in ‘good health’.
Simon Turner, commercial director at Wrekin Products said:

“We hope this campaign will go some way to increasing awareness about the interconnectedness of our infrastructure and the problems and effects of water pollution on our marine wildlife.

“As one of the most popular suppliers of gully grates in the UK, we’re using our position as an opportunity to create a positive environmental impact by reminding people that there is a correct place for litter to go, and it’s not down our drains.

“We’re lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful natural landscapes on the planet, and so it’s a shame to see it needlessly harmed by pollution and rubbish. More so when we see the ripple effects of excess nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen seeping into and harming our freshwater habitats, and in some cases being enough to kill the fish population.

“Kings Park is just the beginning of this campaign, and we’ll be looking to spread this important message even further throughout this year and beyond. The main culprit of river pollution in the UK is smoking-related litter. However, confectionary packets, drinks bottles and cans, fast food, wet wipes, and, more recently, disposable vapes all contribute to a harmful chemical cocktail.”

The government’s Environmental Audit Committee (2022) found that housing developments’ drainage systems which are clogged with ‘a profusion of plastic and other non-biodegradable waste’, in addition to heavy rainfall, often leads to an overloaded sewerage system unable to cope effectively.

 

Alaric Ross-Wagenknecht, project engineer at Barratt and David Wilson Homes Anglia, said:

 

“As leaders in the residential housebuilding sector, we wanted to work with Wrekin to educate children and adults in a fun and informative way about the importance of pollution control and the role of drainage infrastructure and the water cycle.

“To permanently imprint the message ‘The Sea Starts Here’ on a gully grating means the message will be here for years to come, throughout the gully’s whole life cycle. That will get people thinking twice about gullies and their role.”

 

More information surrounding the effect of litter on drainage systems and in the UK’s waterways can be found at the Wrekin website

PLEASE CLICK HERE

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Recruitment Shortage Impacts Construction Sector

  • Businesses report recruitment was more difficult in Q2, with more firms facing problems hiring staff
  • 74% of firms that attempted to recruit over the past three months faced challenges hiring
  • Construction and engineering firms are the most likely to be facing recruitment problems (82%)
  • 59% of companies attempted to recruit in Q2

The latest Quarterly Recruitment Outlook (QRO), a survey of more than 4,700 UK firms of all sectors and sizes, by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Insights Unit, reveals hiring problems have increased across all sectors.

The second quarter results for 2024 show that 59% of respondents said they had attempted to recruit in the last three months, slightly down from 62% in Q1. 80% of hospitality businesses attempted to recruit, whereas the figure for the retail sector was just 44%.

Of the firms who tried to hire in Q2, 74% reported recruitment difficulties, compared with 66% in the first three months of the year.

Construction and engineering firms are bearing the brunt of staffing issues, with 82% reporting recruitment problems in Q2, up from 69% in Q1. 79% of firms in the transport and logistics sector said they had faced difficulties (up from 69% in Q1). Meanwhile, in production and manufacturing, 77% of businesses trying to recruit faced problems, up from 70% in the previous quarter.

Almost three quarters of firms (71%) in the hospitality sector said they had faced recruitment problems in Q2 (Q1 64%), while 70% of retailers faced difficulties, up from 61% in Q1.

Although most businesses are still struggling to increase investment in workplace training, Q2 did see a slight increase. 28% of firms reported an increase in staff training investment, up from 26% in Q1, with 11% reporting a drop. 61% reported no change in their investment plans for training over the past three months.

Labour costs continue to be the main external pressure on businesses in Q2, with 67% of firms saying they could be forced to put up prices as a result. Concerns around labour costs are highest in hospitality (77%), followed by construction and engineering (76%), and production and manufacturing (72%).

Responding to the findings, Jane Gratton, Deputy Director Public Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce said:

“It’s alarming that recruitment difficulties have increased in recent months across all sectors. The very sharp rise in the construction industry is particularly worrying.

“People shortages and labour costs are ramping up pressure on firms and holding back growth.  We need to prioritise help for people to get back into the labour market and remove the barriers to business investment in training.

“Better planning for skills is crucial. The new government must work at pace to outline a long-term national skills strategy, working closely with the devolved administrations.

“Building on Local Skills Improvement Plans will help develop strong partnerships between employers, training providers and others – to ensure people get the skills and support they need.”

Source: British Chambers of Commerce

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