Dec 21 2018 Weekly News Bulletin – 21st December This week we saw news from Building providing a round-up of the year for the construction industry, including the highs and lows. It has definitely been an eventful year and we’d recommend reading this piece to gain an insight into what this means for construction in 2019. We’ve covered apprenticeships a lot throughout 2018 and this week is no different; we looked at the theme for National Apprenticeship Week 2019, which will be ‘Blaze a Trail.’ Running 4th – 8th March 2019, we encourage companies in construction to attend and explore the opportunities that apprenticeships can bring to employers. There’s no doubt that construction, manufacturing and engineering are evolving as new technology develops, and this week Raconteur published a piece analysing the skills needed by engineers of the future. As we’re currently experiencing a skills shortage across the industries, it’s important that companies and the Government are aware of the skills needed to ensure we futureproof the sectors. BIM is another hot topic that seems to have been in the news agenda throughout the course of the year and this week, we saw an article in PBC Today urging construction professionals to get familiar with the software. BIM can help the industry move forward and compete on a European and global stage and a survey by BSI shows that other industry professionals agree with this prediction. For your weekly news update, please follow us on Facebook (MetsecUK), Twitter (@MetsecUK) & LinkedIn (voestalpine Metsec plc). 2018 in construction: Building’s review of the year – part one So, what did Santa’s last round of offerings bring the industry? It’s not been a stocking full of pleasant surprises. https://www.building.co.uk/focus/2018-in-construction-buildings-review-of-the-year-part-one/5097068.article Blazing a Trail with National Apprenticeship Week 2019 ‘Blaze a Trail’ will be the theme for National Apprenticeship Week 2019 (NAW 2019), Apprenticeships and Skills minister Anne Milton announced today (13 December). https://www.gov.uk/government/news/blazing-a-trail-with-national-apprenticeship-week-2019 What skills do the engineers of the future need? In the grip of a choking skills shortage, the engineering sector faces tough questions of how best to attract new recruits and equip them for lifelong employment https://www.raconteur.net/business-innovation/engineering-skills Construction professionals urge increased awareness of BIM UK construction professionals are calling for increased awareness of Building Information Modelling (BIM) methods to help the UK compete on the European and global stage https://www.pbctoday.co.uk/news/bim-news/construction-professionals-bim/50290/