What an apprentice really costs, what to pay a qualified electrician or engineer, and how to keep the people you train.
The apprentice wage is the part everyone quotes, and it is the smallest line on the bill. Add the National Insurance, the off-the-job training hours, and the one nobody writes down: among UK construction employers who train, 26% of the spend is the wages of the people delivering it, the highest share of any sector.
Then there is keeping them. In England in 2024/25, fewer than half of plumbing and domestic heating apprentices achieved their qualification. What an apprentice really costs in the first year, what to pay a qualified electrician or heating engineer so they stay, what the supervision rules actually say on a gas job or a consumer unit, and which of the rules everyone repeats on site are law.
HSE's cases include a fake Gas Safe logo and an unregistered installer sent by a contracted business. If you subcontract gas work, check the person, not just the advertising.
Acas says prepare now for a stronger sexual harassment prevention duty and a separate change covering harassment by customers and other third parties. Both changes are announced for 30 October 2026.
Individual claims are arriving faster than the tribunals can finish them, and the open caseload is the highest the Ministry of Justice has recorded. If your business has a claim open, budget for a wait. The count cannot tell you how long yours will take.
When your people work on someone else's site, the principal contractor gets a say before the supplier does. The useful jobs are specific, and permission comes before the kit.
Everyone selling smart glasses shows you the catalogue. Nobody shows you the bill. What a pair actually costs a business with vans on the road, what they fix on the tools, and what they leave exactly as it was.
A 36-month Level 3 apprenticeship dedicated to heat pump and low-carbon heating installation, with a £22,000 funding band per apprentice. The first proper structured route into the renewables workforce.
A comprehensive guide to CITB grants, apprenticeship funding, Innovate UK programmes, and Skills England initiatives available for construction training providers in 2026.
During National Apprenticeship Week 2026, the government unveiled 13,000 apprenticeships and T-level placements across construction, backed by a £20bn School Rebuilding Programme. The biggest skills push in a decade.
Analysis of the UK Government's £600 million investment to train 60,000 construction workers by 2029 and transform the industry.
The UK construction sector faces a massive labour gap of 251,500 workers by 2028, according to CITB, representing a structural crisis affecting housing, infrastructure, and retrofit projects.
Examining how Brexit continues to reshape the construction industry's labour market and the innovative solutions emerging to fill the gaps.
Master modern construction health and safety training. Learn risk assessment, safety management, and innovative training approaches.
Labour shortages, an ageing workforce and higher technical demands mean construction apprenticeships are no longer one route in: they are a necessity.
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