Meet The Team

Hi, I'm Ian Johnson, one of the Directors of Skills Gap Training. 

 

I started on site far too early with my dad, way back when you could go to work on weekends and school holidays at the ripe old age of 13. Dad, who was GF (general Foreman) would show me all the disciplines that you see on site and let me help out with all the different gangs of men. I soon found myself working more often with the joiners and the craic was good.

 

Sites have changed a lot since the early 80's, I've seen the introduction of compulsory helmets and boots then hi-vis vests, right up to the modern way with 6 & 7 point PPE. formwork has changed to make it quicker and safer but the core fundamentals remain the same, moulding concrete into often complex shapes and figuring out how to contain the extreme pressures involved, then making & assembling it all so that it strips away for re-use without damaging the pour. 

 

Traditional formwork will always be needed to blend with modern systems and these are the skills that are fading fast due to the older generation leaving the construction industry. Organisations have long been neglecting training probably due to the way employment has been carried out over the last 50 years.

 

Our aim is to hopefully pass on as much as we can so these skills won't be lost. 

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Hi, I’m James McCrudden one of the Directors of Skills Gap Training, let me introduce myself.

Ready? I’ve been in the construction industry around 40 years, starting out as a labourer working with lots of different trades, learning on the job being taught by experienced tradesmen back in the late 80’s and early 90’s my gaffer put me to work with these trades, steel fixers, formwork joiners and concreters.

 

These trades are highly skilled helping to build Brittons superstructures -
infrastructures, building structures for The ministry of Transport, National Grid, MOD, NHS, Education and Renewable energies and Housing to name but a few.

These all start by building solid foundations and that’s what Steel Fixing, Formwork joinery and Concreting is all about. The work we do is rarely seen most of it buried, covered over, hidden in plain sight.

Now I want to pass on these lifelong skills I have experienced working on infrastructures all over Great Briton and Europe. Training the next generation of Building, Civil Engineering Construction workers.

That’s why Skills Gap Training has been formed, to upskill the existing workforce and to introduce people that don’t know about this industry but are willing to learn about it, give it a try, you will be surprised how rewarding it.

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