On GCSE results day I’m urging my sons – and Britain’s young people – to choose the trades
When results day arrives, the dinner table conversation - including three teenage boys - often turns to jobs. They’re particularly curious about mine - and what it entails - as they begin to explore their own options.
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Despite enjoying three decades of working in major retail companies, I find it hard to explain to three curious teenagers what I actually do. No, it’s not “just meetings”.
Things become much clearer when I discuss their grandfather and uncles, who spent decades in the trade sector, building Britain. My sons can see the impact their ancestors had on the world.
If I had my time again, I would have loved to train as an electrician or plumber. While it might be a bit late for me, now is the perfect time for me - and parents up and down the UK - to encourage my children to consider a career in the trade.
After all, Britain needs builders. With Labour’s ambitious plans to build 1.5 million homes in the next four years, we need at least 250,000 more tradespeople* to turn vision into reality. This is a job AI certainly won’t be able to replace in the near future. Safe, secure, and skilled.
With young people facing a pitiful job market - the worst for graduate positions since 2008 - it should come as no surprise that they’re increasingly turning to the trade for opportunities. At B&Q TradePoint, we’ve noticed a refreshing increase in younger trade customers coming through our doors - including more women, which is great to see.
When we surveyed a range of this new era of Gen Z tradespeople to ask them why they entered the industry, a significant proportion recognised the positive career opportunities (39%) and potential to start their own business (30%).
More than 4 in 10 moved into the trade after obtaining a university degree - highlighting the emergence of a new, less conventional path into the industry. It’s positive to see the trade being valued as a fulfilling career for everyone - regardless of their education background.
Yet, the trade’s skills pipeline is still vulnerable. We face an uphill battle if the Government’s infrastructure ambitions are to be fulfilled.
For one, apprenticeships are less available than they once were. Firms are under immense financial pressure and - while they do an honourable job at training the next generation - running apprenticeship programmes, with the complex admin burden they bring, can understandably fall down the priority list.
At B&Q, we’re using the Government’s Transfer to Transform apprenticeship levy to invest over £1 million into initiatives to help support smaller businesses recruit and train trade apprentices. We’d love as many of these places to go to women as possible and enrich the diversity of the sector.
Britain needs more tradespeople. Young people need more skilled, secure, and rewarding careers. So, as you sit around the dinner table and chat exam results with your kids - please consider the trade.
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John Morgan is the Director of TradePoint at B&Q
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