Goram Homes: Tackling the Skills Gap One Community at a Time
Ensuring that skills are being retained by the housing sector and developed by younger industry professionals, Goram Homes has opened a brand new training centre on a brownfield site at One Locklease.
At the same site, there will be 268 new homes constructed through the developer Countryside Partnerships and the training schemes will be delivered by Partners in Bristol.
Anyone over the age of 19 will be offered free short courses that will help ease the barriers to getting into the housing and construction sector. This theme was heavily explored in the recent Housing Industry Leaders event with experts explaining the importance of improving access to the sector.
The academy offers both classrooms and practical workspaces, allowing students to acquire skills in plastering, plumbing, and brickwork while actively working on a construction site.
Once completed, the One Lockleaze site will consist of 121 homes available for market sale and 147 affordable homes, including both social rent and shared ownership options.
Skills academy will address the significant shortage
Goram Homes stated that the skills academy will address the significant shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry. They referenced recent data from the Construction Skills Network, which indicates that an additional 225,000 construction workers may be required in the UK by 2027 to meet demand.
Countryside Partnerships and Goram Homes are responsible for two major projects. The first is the One Lockleaze development, while the second is located on a former airport site in the southern part of the city.
The Hengrove Park scheme, consisting of 1,435 homes, will not only provide housing but also include a new 22-hectare park, a sports pavilion, and community space.
Ragan Rylatt-Williams is one of the first students to receive training at the One Lockleaze Skills Academy.
He said: “My dream is to own my own development site, to help other people. I want to build affordable houses for people who are struggling, and I want to be able to build a house for my mum any my grandparents.”
Lessons delivered now could be passed on for generations
Stephen Baker, managing director of Goram Homes, said: “The skills learned here could be life changing. By offering free courses on our development sites, we’re giving people a crucial head-start into a construction career and training the next generation of house builders.
It’s a great example of how developers can do much more than build houses – we can support the communities in which we build, too
Stephen Teagle, chief executive at Countryside Partnerships, said: “We set up our skills academies more than five years ago, to help train local people while also combatting the nationwide construction skills shortage.
“Since then, our academies have welcomed more than 800 people, and we’re delighted to be launching this new programme at One Lockleaze in partnership with Goram Homes and Partners in Bristol. If you’ve ever considered a career in construction, or if you’d like to re-skill and retrain, this is the programme for you.”
