West College Scotland has been selected to host the 51st annual Scottish Plumbing Apprentice of the Year (SPAY) competition at its Paisley campus on 12 June 2026. The event, organised by the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF), is a long-established fixture in Scotland’s construction and building services calendar, showcasing emerging talent in [...]
Growing numbers of young people are considering careers in construction and skilled trades rather than university, according to new research commissioned by Draper Tools. A survey of 2,000 adults under the age of 28 found that almost half believe becoming a tradesperson could be a faster route to earning £100,000 than pursuing a university degree. [...]
Bradford housing association Incommunities has opened recruitment for six new construction and building services apprentices, as social landlords continue to use in-house delivery models to address skills shortages across housing maintenance and retrofit work. The new intake includes two apprentice joiners, two apprentice plumbers, one apprentice electrician and one apprentice gas engineer. The recruits will [...]
Plumbing and heating contractors reported a modest improvement in activity and confidence in the final quarter of 2025, but profitability continued to deteriorate as cost and skills pressures intensified, according to the latest State of Trade report from SNIPEF. The Q4 2025 State of Trade found that 41% of firms were busier than expected, while [...]
New research from NICEIC, the UK’s leading training and certification body for the electrical industry, suggests that relationships between tradespeople and their customers are becoming less personal and more transactional — with implications for wellbeing across the construction and building services sector. Generational Divide in Hospitality Towards Tradespeople The study found a clear generational split [...]
Tool Theft by the Numbers According to recent police and industry reports, more than 44,000 incidents of tool theft were reported in 2023. A significant proportion of these—around 50%—involved break-ins to vans, highlighting the vulnerability of unsecured tools stored in vehicles. Thieves often use basic tools such as crowbars, but battery-powered grinders and other cutting [...]
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