BuildForce – helping military veterans into new careers

BuildForce is a programme to support ex-services personnel into construction and engineering.

We are working with BuildForce to support people leaving the armed forces in their transition to civilian life.

Our support dates from being one of the sponsors of the launch event at the Tower of London in January 2017.

James Andrews, labour manager, and Dan Parkinson, labour manager are mentors, as part of the programme.

“Ex-miltary personnel have a wide range of transferable skills,” said Ciara Pryce, group services director. “Military skills like teamwork, punctuality, leadership and motivation are highly valuable.

“We believe that by offering support to service leavers who are interested in a career in construction we will make the change to civilian employment easier for them, and help to ease the skills shortage in our industry.”

Success stories of service leavers moving into construction include award-winning apprentice James Berry.

UK-wide alliance

BuildForce is a UK-wide employer-led initiative which will help former armed services personnel find rewarding careers in the construction and built environment sectors. It will connect the military community to construction careers through a UK-wide alliance of employers, industry bodies and charities, supported by government.

Around 14,000 people leave the armed forces each year, many of whom are not aware of the opportunities available within the construction industry. The BuildForce initiative, which is part-funded by the CITB Structured & Flexible Fund, is also backed by its founding partners: Carillion, Crossrail, EY, Lendlease, Morgan Sindall and Wilson James.