Northern Counties Builders Federation (NCBF), in collaboration with the faculty of construction at Northumberland College, is to host the latest ‘Building Your Future’ event, on March 31, 2026.
The Building Your Future campaign is a key initiative designed to directly address the skills shortage within the construction sector.
According to the latest data from Places for People, UK social enterprise and property group, the UK construction industry is facing a severe skills shortage, with over 140,000 job vacancies stalling essential housing and infrastructure projects. Despite skilled trades – such as bricklaying, plumbing and roofing – comprising 10% of England’s workforce, demand far exceeds supply.
By 2035, over one-third of construction workers will retire, worsening the crisis. This shortfall puts the UK government’s ambitious 1.5 million new homes target, before the end of the current Parliament in 2029, at serious risk.
Launched in 2023, the event has been supported by a number of colleges in the region including Sunderland, Darlington and Hartlepool College.
The collaboration with Northumberland College will include, networking, presentations from the NCBF and a tour of the faculty of construction. Each event brings together employers looking to hire skilled workers with final-year students studying a range of essential trades, including bricklaying, plumbing and carpentry.
NCBF is a long-established membership association bringing together construction companies and contractors operating in the North East of England. It is proactive in raising the profile of members, supporting training and apprenticeships and helping to future-proof the North East construction industry.
Angela Carney, president, NCBF, said: “This will be our fourth event and the campaign is part of our ongoing commitment to strengthen the workforce and support economic growth across the region.
“For students, parents and educational institutions, ‘Building Your Future’ serves as a powerful message that the construction sector should be a top career choice for young people, with abundant opportunities for growth.
“Employers such as Kier Group, Vest Construction, John N Dunn Group, MGL Group, Robertson Construction, Hodgson Sayers, Compass Developments, Applebridge Family, Geoffrey Robinson, Classic Masonry, Persimmon Homes and many more, were represented at our earlier events.
“This is an opportunity for employers and students to meet each other with the potential for students to speak to organisations to learn more about the transition into the workplace or, ultimately, be offered a chance of employment.”
Northumberland College, through its new campus at Wansbeck Business Park opening later this year, is one of several further education spokes working in partnership with Sunderland College’s North East Construction Technical Excellence College (CTEC) based at the Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HICSA).
Announced by the Department for Education in 2025, CTECs serve as regional hubs specialising in construction training, working with providers, raising industry standards, addressing skills shortages and driving economic growth.
Judith Quinn, Northumberland College’s Ashington Campus principal, said: “We are extremely proud to be hosting the Building Your Future event at Northumberland College and to be working in partnership with Northern Counties Builders Federation. This event is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the breadth of careers available in construction across our region and to connect our students directly with leading employers.
“The construction sector is vital to the North East economy, and events such as this reinforce the importance of collaboration between education and industry in addressing the sector’s skills needs.”