As a Director at Kisiel Group and a Director at the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), Annie could give a clear insight into the impact on small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) within the construction industry on some of the government’s future policies.Meeting with senior advisors from four government departments, the topics covered ranged from construction skills shortages, boosting the skills base, responding to the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations and future proposals to introduce licensing to the UK construction sector.A healthy discussion covered how the construction industry might be supported by the government policies especially on training and movement of people to work in the UK.As a member of the FMB Training Groups, Annie expressed her views on training for ensuring that Apprenticeship standards remained at a high level to attract young people into Construction Apprenticeships and covered some of the issues that need to be addressed to enable the new ‘T-level’ qualifications to be successful when introduced in 2020.
Annie explains, “I was encouraged, having spoken to senior advisors from different government departments, as they were keen to understand the direct impact that some of their policy decisions would have on the SME building sites around the country.”