The Gleeds Global Challenge is an annual event that encourages colleagues across Gleeds’ 68 offices worldwide to donate a day of their time to help their local community.

The inspiration for the UK campaign in 2017 was the unprecedented and ongoing skills shortage within the UK construction industry. As one of the UK’s largest sectors - contributing almost £90 billion to the economy – the skills shortage not only threatens productivity within construction, but by extension impacts national provision of housing, transport, energy, infrastructure, commercial space and healthcare facilities to name but a few.

Compounding the challenge was the poor image that construction commonly has amongst young citizens. Often considered an industry for tradespeople only, it is frequently overlooked as a rewarding and varied career path. Popularity amongst women also remains lower than average.

To help dispel misconceptions about the construction industry and give young people a more informed view of the career options open to them, Gleeds UK teamed up with educational charity The Transformation Trust to develop a curriculum-aligned workshop for students in 28 schools across the country.

The CIPR awards ceremony take place on June 6 at The Artillery Garden at the HAC, London. Find out more about the awards here: http://ciprawards.co.uk/excellence/

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Julian Barlow

Julian Barlow
PR Consultant