Latest research from the Construction Industry Training Board forecasts annual average growth of 2.5% from 2016-2020.

That growth will create the need for thousands of new jobs including 9,400 office based roles every year, 2,800 bricklayers and 4,320 carpenters.

CITB’s Construction Skills Network (CSN) report predicts sustained growth from 2016-2020, driven by infrastructure and private housing.

And the skills group is calling for a radical rise in apprenticeships to plug the gaps.

Steve Radley, Policy Director at the CITB said:“All types of training, and especially apprenticeships, will be vital to delivering this pipeline of work.

“This positive forecast should inspire more people to start apprenticeships, and more firms to take them on.”

New nuclear power stations at Hinkley Point, Somerset, and Wylfa, Anglesey, alongside rail projects such as Crossrail and HS2, will drive year-on-year infrastructure growth of 6.1%.

The commercial construction sector will experience growth of 3.4% per annum, while private housebuilding will also experience sustained growth across the forecast period.

Output in the housebuilding is expected return to pre-recession levels by the end of the forecast period, reaching £26bn by 2020.

Annual growth is predicted in all the UK’s regions and nations up to 2020, with Wales faring best with year-on-year growth of 7.1%, followed by the South West (4.4%), London (3.5%), and the North West (2.6%).

Steve Radley, Director of Policy at the CITB, said: “We can’t build the Britain we want without growing apprenticeships – and the careers they lead onto.

“That’s why it is vital that these new statistics, showing solid, sustained growth, inspire more people join the construction industry.

“We also want to attract workers who have left the industry to return, and upskill those currently in the sector, so we can deliver major projects and new housing faster and better.”

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