Training

The NFB has reaffirmed its commitment to training by participating in the ‘Sector Skills Agreement for Construction' and working alongside CITB-ConstructionSkills.

This commitment is based on the following shared strategic goals:

• addressing skills gaps and shortages
• influencing the establishment of more responsive education and training provision
• giving the construction workforce greater opportunities for training and development
• improving performance and productivity

We recognise that this commitment is not confined to the operative or apprentice level, as measured by CSCS participation and NVQs respectively, but also applies to middle and senior management.

As a signatory to the construction industry’s ‘Qualifying the Workforce' initiative, the NFB’s policy is to encourage all member companies to have a suitably qualified person in every appropriate position by 2010. To this end the NFB set up its Training Division in 2003. NFB Training is, therefore, working with the CITB-ConstructionSkills, Constructing Excellence and others to provide training programmes to enable construction companies to achieve this goal.

NFB Training’s vision is to become the first choice for construction-related training. Its objectives are straightforward:

• to establish a respected reputation for the provision of high-quality training
• to identify emerging training needs and to forge strategic alliances with other training bodies
• to furnish construction companies with tailored courses that extend the NFB’s existing well-established regional programmes
• to secure funding, where appropriate, to support its activities to NFB members’ advantage
• to explore the feasibility of distance learning internet-based training programmes with CITB and others

NFB Training is based at the NFB’s North West Business Centre in Preston but operates throughout the UK from the NFB’s regional business centres.