I am Kacey Allen, the Office Manager and PA to the director of Bespoke Building and Carpentry. We do anything from renovations and conversions to new builds, using the latest cutting-edge technology, tools and products.

Due to the pandemic, cost increases have created challenges for us, as well as the availability of materials decreasing, creating a huge issue in the construction industry, leading to delays in jobs and price changes to both us and clients. Alongside this, there was a shortage of skilled workers generally, meaning not enough carpenters and groundworkers for us. As we have two newbuilds currently underway in Weston and Wedmore, we definitely needed to increase the support in our workload.

With the help of Weston College and the Constructing Lives Together programme, we were able to take on some eager-to-learn labourers and give Bespoke the support we needed with the general labouring jobs in the team, to help produce top quality services and products, particularly in the newbuilds currently being worked on. Each of the workers had completed training in Health and Safety, Construction Industry Training Board, and Construction Skills Certification Scheme, as well as gaining re-employment skills – which has been really beneficial to us!

Over the next few months we will be engaging with Constructing Lives Together again to continue to build our team and hopefully fill the shortage of skilled workers and reduce the delay in jobs we were struggling with before.

We would definitely recommend this programme to other construction firms who are looking to recruit newly trained workers, as you can ensure they will be willing to learn and looking for experience on the job. Furthermore, this programme provides an effective process of finding if the individual is suitable and a good match to the company before making your final decision.

We are excited to see what the future holds for both Constructing Lives Together and Bespoke Building and Carpentry, and look forward to taking on new skilled workers.

Kacey Allen, Bespoke Building and Carpentry.

You can find out more about Constructing Lives Together by clicking here.