As you might already be aware, FDS Group – FDS Contracting (FDS) and our sister company, FDS Consult – has proudly partnered with Construction United, an initiative that aims to improve public perceptions of the construction industry.

Throughout this year, Construction United has been focusing on three main objectives, two of which include improving the image of the sector and improving the wellbeing of its workforce.

For us here at FDS, however, the objective that interested us in particular was Construction United’s aim to address our industry’s skills gap.

The skills gap has affected the majority of us in construction. The work we do isn’t always widely recognised by the younger generation, which can make recruiting slightly more difficult.

While we have always been lucky enough to find the great talent that we need to make FDS a success, we’re aware of the struggle others in our industry have faced to fill positions within their companies.

In light of this, we’re pleased to announce that we have opened our doors to students who are keen to enter the construction industry, by giving them the opportunity to undertake work experience, showing them the wide range of roles available within the sector.

We will have work experience students working in our finance department, where they will be shadowing our financial controller, Rachel Archer. They will be helping with daily duties which include setting up payments, invoicing, using our accounts system and general admin/accounts duties. There will also be opportunities for students to work with our IT department.

We hope that by allowing students the opportunity to work with our company, whether with the fire consultants or finance department, we can show the younger generation that there’s a role for everyone in construction, whatever their academic background.

What’s more, we will also be welcoming new apprentices in the near future, providing long-term, hands on experience as well as the opportunity for development and progression within the FDS group.

As highlighted in a recent YouGov survey commissioned by Construction United, where it asked 2,000 members of the public what they thought of the construction industry, 68% of Britons described the sector as ‘strenuous’ while another 58% described it as ‘dirty’.

These statistics demonstrated to us that the perception that the public has towards our industry is that it consists mainly of labour intensive roles, forgetting about all of the other great work that goes on behind closed door.

By bringing in work experience students in a variety of roles, our aim is to show the younger generation the diverse career opportunities available within construction.