The Construction Enquirer reported last week that Crossrail contractors are struggling to find M&E workers for the last-minute push to get the project completed because so many sparks have moved to the Spurs stadium site. Will the shortage of Mechanical and Electrical workers affect your projects completing on time? The Enquirer revealed that electricians on the new Tottenham stadium job are being paid up to £400 a day. And that is hitting sites across London which are facing a shortage of skilled workers. How will competing with these rates affect your project budget? The Enquirer understands that the Costain/Skanska joint venture is currently trying to recruit more M&E workers at its Bond Street Crossrail site. But it is struggling to find sparks because of a glut of work in the capital. One project source said: “There are still hundreds of electricians working on Crossrail and they are looking for more on some sites. “You always need more M&E resources at the end of big infrastructure jobs like this but loads of workers have upped and gone to Spurs where they are paying big money.” Crossrail said the total number of M&E workers across the whole project is winding-down as the scheme approaches completion by the end of this year. But a spokesperson confirmed that recruitment was underway at Bond Street for fit-out work. The new central London Crossrail stations are due to open in December. Andy Marr, Key Account Manager, shares his thoughts on this with you; ''Available candidates are at a premium and understandably so in a bull market and this, of course, brings huge challenges across the industry, which is another blog entirely. My biggest concern is how we get the younger generation more interested, engaged and wanting to work in the construction industry? This was brought home to me by a family member who decided to pursue a career in construction and spent two years learning a Plastering trade. To cut a long story short, towards the end of his second year he started to lose interest in the industry and ultimately completed the course but decided to work in a different industry. Fair play to the lad, he found and secured a role in the food industry where training, development and progression have begun. I started in Construction recruitment back in 1985 and as I’ve gone through the years the number of good tradesmen that worked with me back in the 1980s and 1990s have started to decrease as those excellent skills and experience retire. My biggest worry is how those trades are replaced and the next generation of construction workers begin their career journey and keep the industry progressing well into the future. Construction is a fabulous industry to be in and those young people who decide to take this particular journey will learn so many great skills and have the opportunity to work on some of the iconic projects of the future.''

Your latest EFM newsletter is out now It's been a busy month for the FM sector; with GDPR, World FM Day celebrating everything that's great about our industry, ISO 41001 arrived - how have the changes affected your business? Joanne Crampton, Head of Estates, Facilities & Maintenance rounds up the last month for you... ''It’s been another busy month for you FM professionals. Whilst we’re still dealing with the fall out of the Carillion collapse and its impact on the industry, the discussion has now moved on to other potential disruptions to facilities management. The big talking point this month is GDPR and what its effects will be across the facilities and property sector; the emergence of ‘workplace’ as part of facilities management and a potential name change for BIFM, and the new ISO management systems standard for Facility Management. We’re also talking to hard services/building services maintenance businesses about their plans for the new 18th Edition electrical changes (published in July) and how this affects their businesses.'' Read your news in full by clicking here What else has been happening in the FM sector? ISO 41001 is here. Do you currently outsource FM? How will this affect not only your approach to compliance but your process as well? Requirements, with guidance for use, have been published to help FM teams achieve more efficiency in their work. Drawing on international best practice, the new management system standard constitutes a benchmark for developing and driving an effective strategic, tactical and operational FM regime. World FM Day 2018. My team are celebrating World FM Day - are you? World FM Day will be celebrated on the 16th of May the day celebrates the importance of not only the FM profession but the people that work in it (you!). This years theme will be highlighting how facilities management plays an integral role in positive customer, client and employee experience in all sectors, whether it is residential, sport, workplace, healthcare or any other. How are you planning to celebrate do you need some inspiration? Leaner and meaner estate management. Did you know that the government central estate vacancy rate has been reduced by 40% over the past 5 years? With a combination of vacancy reduction rate as well as a reduction in the size of the central estate the team will have seen some exciting changes in their operating costs, but how much? The State of the Estate 2016/17 report looks at all of the key numbers and facts, click below to read more. Read your news in full by clicking here Make sure that you don't miss out on any of the latest EFM news

Your latest Industrial newsletter is out now It's been a busy month for the Industrial sector; with minimum wage updates, Brexit, plastic law changes and GDPR - how have these changes affected your business? Matt Dann, Director, rounds up the last month for you... "May sees the start of the Industrial busy season with Easter well and truly behind us. The two Industry hot topics: GDPR and how will the impact of Brexit on labour during the traditional sector seasonal peaks. In fact, we have already started supplying workers into local companies who are packing product ready for Christmas! Another area that I think will be a hot topic over the next few months is the single-use plastic debate. Is this already a big discussion for your business or are you ahead of the curve?'' Read your news in full by clicking here What else has been happening in the Industrial sector? Net migration of EU nationals to Britain falls. Data suggests Brexit uncertainty is outweighing UK’s reputation as ‘jobs factory of Europe’, could this affect your supply chain? Nicola White, the ONS head of migration statistics, said: “The figures also show that non-EU net migration is now larger than EU net migration, mainly due to the large decrease in EU net migration over the last year. However, migration of both non-EU and EU citizens are still adding to the UK population.'' Recycling Must Remain a Priority in Single-Use Plastic Debate. How will the plastic law changes affect your production? Motivation for recycling must be bolstered as consumers turn their back on single-use plastics, according to a supplier of recycled plastic pallets. Recent high profile news articles on plastics polluting the oceans and conflicting reports about the success rates of recycling could result in a confusing message, warned Jim Hardisty, Managing Director of Goplasticpallets.com. Making the Apprenticeship Levy work for you. Employers have seen the Apprenticeship Levy as a cost for a year now, and many have yet to realise any benefit from it, have you thought about how it could benefit your business? At the Talent in Logistics Conference 2018, Managing Director of Bis Henderson Academy, David Lynch, will outline the value the Levy can bring to businesses and discuss how it can be used to boost skills. Read your news in full by clicking here Make sure that you don't miss out on any of the latest industrial news

Your latest Construction newsletter is out now It's been a busy month for the Construction sector with the peak season starting, weather causing lots of problems on sites and a Housing growth boost - have these had an impact on your business? Rob Ford, Construction South Director rounds up the last month for you... ''Construction is always the same this time of year for everyone - steady, steady, steady! Then Bang! You're looking for more trades and labour. Whilst there has and will be changes to embrace before the peak season gets fully in the swing (like the minimum wage increase and GDPR), one of the biggest challenges that seems to have hit you all is the unseasonable weather! Thankfully this seems to be on the turn at last and I'm sure that everyone is keen to get their works schedules back on track and make the most of the great weather.'' ​Read your news in full by clicking here What else has been happening in the Construction sector? Outlook brightens for civils contractors. Civil engineering contractors say that their workload was marginally down in the first quarter of 2018, overall, but orders were up. Was this the same for you? CECA chief executive Alasdair Reisner said: “While the first quarter of 2018 has proved a challenging period for many of our members, we believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that industry will act as a platform for secure growth in the coming years.” Concrete sales figures reveal softening markets. First-quarter sales of mineral products were down this year, with the weather being cited as the cause. Has the weather affected works on your sites? The Mineral Products Association (MPA), which collates the data, said that weak sales volumes in the first quarter of the year could be partly explained by the impact of the unusually severe weather in the UK in late February and early March. Housing drives construction activity recovery in April. Construction buyers reportedly saw a modest recovery in construction output following the weather-related disruptions seen during March. House building experienced robust growth in April while underlying demand across the construction sector remained subdued, with total new work rising only marginally last month. The increase in new business was the first recorded by the survey so far in 2018. Read your news in full by clicking here ​ Make sure that you don't miss out on any of the latest Construction news

The Net Migration statistics in February could easily cause huge cause for concern for Recruiters up and down the UK. Net annual migration of EU nationals to Britain has fallen by 75,000 in the past year, with official figures showing this as the lowest level for 5 years. Thorn Baker Industrial Recruitment, like many similar UK firms, will utilise a number of EU nationals as part of its temporary labour workforce, supplying many household names with workers to satisfy seasonal demand in the Contract Packing, Warehouse & Logistics and Manufacturing sectors. Do you use an agency to support your business during peak times? The obvious knock-on effect of the current trend is a reduced labour pool, meaning agencies are often left battling to secure the services of the same candidates - how could this affect you getting the skilled and reliable staff to help with your workload? Rather than shy away from this challenge, I think we can highlight how this could have a positive impact on your industry. The reduction in available labour certainly offers some challenges, what it does make us do is identify what we can do better not just to attract workers in the first place - how we can work with you to help your business needs. By improving how we manage and retain the services of workers once they have joined us will benefit our clients (you) in the long run. Over recent months we have invested in a worker ‘perk scheme’, offer regular ‘worker of the month’ incentives, and ensure that our worker communication process is effective. We pride ourselves on how quickly we find potential workers positions that suit what they are looking for when they are looking, that uses their skills and expertise - this is additional service that we can bring to help support your peak times, resulting in you fulfilling your clients' requirements. Make sure that you don't miss out on any of the latest industrial news