Mayor mobilises 'army of young builders' to fill 12,000 jobs and get West Midlands building again

The Mayor is turning the region’s building boom into an opportunity for 12,000 young people as he launches his Building Growth Action Plan.

The West Midlands has seen a surge in construction activity with the Deloitte Birmingham Crane Survey 2026 recording 23 new starts on site in 2025 – the highest number in five years - more than doubling on the previous year.

This construction growth is being driven by:

• The demand to build 12,200 new homes each year in answer to the housing crisis
• £2.4bn investment in transport to better link people to jobs and opportunities
• A £160m retrofit programme to insulate properties and reduce household energy bills
• Flagship regeneration schemes like the East Birmingham Sports Quarter

The Mayor was joined by key stakeholders and partners, including the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), today for the launch of his Building Growth Action Plan. CITB estimate the region needs 12,000 construction workers over the next three years.

He said: "While the future feels uncertain for many, construction offers a well-paid, stable career for life. Whether you’re working with bricks and mortar or in engineering and design, there are huge opportunities.

“We are now seeing a construction boom across our region and I am determined to make sure local people are at the front of the queue to secure the vital jobs this is creating – jobs that are quite literally building the West Midlands and building Britain.

“My Building Growth Action Plan will bring together investment and partners to deliver the skilled pipeline of talent that the industry needs, powering new jobs, building new homes and creating new opportunities to drive investment, growth and prosperity across our region.”

The ambitious plan aims to bridge the skills gap by creating more training placements in construction, and by strengthening transition from full time study into work through high quality industry placements.

It follows the Mayor’s announcement of £75m additional funding for construction training along with plans to unlock further private investment.

The plan is to be led by key partners and businesses in the Construction Sector, who will work together to grow a sustainable pipeline of emerging talent and will build on the success of the recently launched Construction Technical Excellence College (CTEC) – led by Dudley College.

It will bolster existing initiatives like the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) Path 2 Apprenticeship and Construction Gateway, as well as local employer-led programmes, and will support people into work as well as upskilling the current workforce to keep pace with the needs of the sector, helping to deliver the Mayor’s Growth Plan.

The plan was formally launched at an affordable housing development site in Sandwell being delivered by Morro on behalf of Green Square Accord Housing, which employs a number of apprentices and young workers.

During the visit, the Mayor met several young people who are aspiring to get the skills they need to build their careers in construction.

Rio Hughes, a carpentry apprentice, studying Level 2 at Sandwell College, said: “When I left high school, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. A lot of people in our generation don’t think about trades as careers, but it’s the trades that are going to be here forever.

“It’s always going to be in demand no matter what you do. Everybody knows AI’s going to take over eventually, but you’re not going to see a robot laying bricks. You’re not going to see a robot putting up panels and stuff — it’s just not physically realistic. Human labour is always going to be in demand.”

 

Ruby Samuel-Andrews, a Level 2 carpentry apprenticeship, said: “I think I always wanted to go into carpentry. When I was younger, I liked building stuff.

“I’d seen my dad building stuff. He’s not got a career in it, but he would build like a cupboard or something. I remember him building a bed out the back of my grandad’s van, and I watched him do it and I thought, ‘that’s something I want to do’.”

Tim Balcon, CEO at CITB said, “The launch of the Building Growth Action Plan for the West Midlands marks an important step towards building a more joined-up regional construction skills ecosystem. The plan will help inform a new partnership and regional action plan between CITB and the WMCA, ensuring the West Midlands develops the skilled workforce needed to deliver ambitious housing, retrofit and infrastructure programmes.

“Later this year, CITB will also launch a new National Construction Mayoral Network, designed to strengthen alignment between national and regional government priorities while enabling mayors and regional leaders to share best practice and innovation across the construction sector.”

Employers in the region interested in getting involved in the Building Growth Action Plan can get in touch at employers@wmca.org.uk.