Chief executive of the British Institute of KBB Installation (BiKBBI) Damian Walters has implored the government to make bold reforms with its new body Skills England, to tackle the skills gap.

Damian Walters commented: “BiKBBI has been working with its partners and the Department for Education to tackle the skills gap in the KBB installation sector for more than a decade now, so a renewed focus on skills from the government is welcomed.

“Whilst it is early days and we are yet to fully understand the inner workings of the initiative and what impact it will have on our sector remains to be seen.

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“One thing is for sure – in order to drive positive change for the installation sector and the wider KBB industry, Skills England will need to look beyond uniting businesses, training providers and unions, and make bold reforms to the existing flawed system in order to affect change.” 

Earlier in the year at the BiKBBI Conference, Walters stated the lack of apprenticeship uptake by the KBB industry was a “travesty” and said the Government needed to do more to support SMEs.

He re-iterated this view, when talking about the launch of Skills England : “One key area of the existing framework that requires reform is the lack of incentivisation for employers to embrace apprenticeships, and in particular small business employers, which constitute 99.2% of the UK’s total business population.

“Our extensive work on apprenticeships in the sector continues to highlight the challenges and barriers that make apprenticeships an unviable option for thousands of micro-SME installation businesses, despite their recruitment needs and hundreds of education leavers currently wanting to embark on a career in the KBB sector.

“Supporting these businesses with a reduction in red tape and financial support to effectively deliver training is critical.”

Walters welcomed a possible reconsideration of the apprenticeship levy, as he added: “The Prime Minister has already alluded to a potential review on how the apprenticeships levy can be accessed and utilised which, in my opinion, if the first step to success when it comes to closing the skills gap.”