The Scaffolding Association and The 5% Club

17 Jul 2018

The Scaffolding Association has showcased its commitment to developing the people in its sector by becoming a partner The 5% Club, an industry led initiative focussed on driving momentum into the recruitment of apprentices, graduates and sponsored students. 

The 5% Club, initiated by Leo Quinn CEO of Balfour Beatty in 2013, is a movement of more than 300 employers providing ‘earn and learn’ opportunities to develop the skills and talents people need to become more employable and create meaningful careers. Companies joining The 5% Club commit to raising the number of apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formal programmes to 5% of their total workforce within five years. Members are also asked to publicly report their progress in their Annual Report. Existing members range from SMEs to large organisations and cover a number of diverse industries, from engineering through to the legal sector. The Club is especially strong in construction and draws many people from this sector

Vice President of The Scaffolding Association, Karl Degroot, Managing Director at Godiva Environmental Solutions Ltd joined The Club in April this year and wants to make skills and the development of the next generation of scaffolders as his primary focus during his time as President.

Karl de Groot explains: “I urge all scaffolders to have a look at joining The 5% Club www.5percentclub.org.uk  - it’s free and they have a great range of networking events. I believe we all have to do our bit in making sure our sector has the right people with the right skills for now and for the future. Taking on apprentices and supporting staff via ‘earn and learn’ opportunities is a great way to ensure a skills pipeline for your business. And The 5% Club is a great network to be a part of.”

Lady Cobham, Director General of The 5% Club said, “We’re delighted to be entering into this partnership with The Scaffolding Association. The 5% Club provides a fantastic network of HR professionals, sharing and learning from each other. All our members share an ethos of creating a skilled workforce through ‘earn and learn’ development programmes, helping people develop meaningful career paths. And anything anyone can do to help us ‘spread the word’ is very welcome.”

To find out more information about The 5% Club and how to become a member, please visit www.5percentclub.org.uk