As part of its efforts to tackle key industry issues, the FDS Group is pleased to announce that it is now an official partner of Construction United, a leading initiative aimed at improving public perceptions of the sector.

Consisting of award-winning smoke ventilation contractors FDS Contracting, and leading experts in fire engineering FDS Consult, the FDS Group will work with Construction United on the initiative’s three main objectives; improving the overall image of the sector, tacking the skills gap and raising awareness on mental health in the sector.

Over the coming months, the FDS Group will collaborate with a number of Construction United’s partners – including leading building products distributor SIG, Morgan Sindall, and the Construction Industry Council (CIC) – as they look at some of the most pressing issues facing the industry today, whilst also raising money for its charity partners.

Discussing the new partnership, Gerard Sheridan, Chairman at the FDS Group said “We’ve all been affected by one of the three objectives that Construction United’s looking at, at some point or other. In particular, for us in fire engineering, the skills gap has caused a major problem.

“In our sector, as in the majority of others in construction and engineering, we’re starting to see a slowdown in the number of young people taking on relevant courses and apprenticeships. We strongly believe in the value of apprentices and graduates, and we want to make sure that there are workers available to support the industry for years to come.

“By working together as an industry, and improving how the public view the entire sector, it will have a snowball effect and the issues that we’re currently facing could be removed completely, which is why we’re very proud to be a part of Construction United. “

For more information on FDS Contracting visit: https://www.fdscontracting.co.uk/