New initiative launches to help Brummies into construction jobs

BBSP will build a network of trusted employment and skills partners that will help to link employers in the construction industry with local people, ensuring that our communities benefit from the record levels of investment that the city continues to see.

Alongside contractors, education, community and voluntary sector partners will join the partnership, helping to connect local people and places to the opportunities arising from investment, ultimately supporting the delivery of the Economic and Place strategy.

Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, and Councillor Nicky Brennan, Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness at Birmingham City Council, launched the partnership through a visit to the Selly Oak Jobcentre and nearby site The Triangle, a £90 million scheme being delivered by contractors McAleer and Rushe which will deliver 836 student bedrooms along with retail and community space.

Cllr Brennan and the Mayor were joined by partners from the Building Birmingham Skills Partnership including colleagues from the Department of Work and Pensions, WMCA and the BCC Employment Access Team, to explore how major construction projects can create real opportunities for local people, particularly young people starting out in work.

Contractors McAleer and Rushe highlighted how their social value programme is helping people to gain skills and training, and move into good quality jobs in construction which can lead to lifelong and fulfilling careers.

Councillor Brennan said: “Initiatives like this are connecting local people with real opportunities, aligning skills development and training to the construction sector and helping them to launch sustainable, quality careers. Through the Building Birmingham Skills Partnership the council will work together with our partners across the city to make a tangible difference to the lives of our residents.”

Councillor Sharon Thompson, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “With the unprecedented scale of investment and development in Birmingham we have a once-in-a-generation chance to reduce the high levels of unemployment that our city has had for decades. We know that there are significant social and economic barriers to achieving inclusive growth across Birmingham, and through the Building Birmingham Skills Partnership we are working with our partners to break them down.”

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “The West Midlands is heading into a construction boom that will power new jobs, new homes and new opportunities right across the West Midlands and I want local people to have the skills and access to jobs to deliver it. It’s why I recently announced £75m investment in training and apprenticeships in construction, engineering, design and all the supporting roles that keep our region building. Led by Birmingham City Council and partners, the newly launched Building Birmingham Skills Partnership will bring benefits to residents across the city and filter wider across the region – making it the best place to live, learn, work and visit.”

Notes to editors:

Why has BCC set up this new partnership?

With the unprecedented scale of investment and development in Birmingham, the growing skills crisis for the UK construction industry, and the significant social and economic barriers to achieving inclusive growth for Birmingham residents and communities, there has never been a greater need for the power of partnerships. 

The BCC Employment Access Team sees employers, partners, and providers struggling to connect, let alone collaborate to deliver their S106 and social value commitments. The council cannot obligate its development partners to deliver outcomes for Birmingham residents without also supporting them and the regional construction sector, which is vital to driving economic growth across the West Midlands.

To date, there has not been a strategic plan for connecting employers with community-based partners who are able to identify local people suitable for jobs in the industry, and many of these community partners are not visible to contractors.

To address these challenges and achieve greater social impact, the council is inviting construction skills providers to come together as a single and identifiable partnership - the Building Birmingham Skills Partnership -  with a coherent and collaborative offer which can be promoted to contractors as they come through the planning system. From here, BBSP can negotiate targeted agreements, and start to prepare their social value delivery as well as those who are already live on site. 

The council plans to promote the BBSP offer to the regional industry seeking supply chain opportunities through business support partners such as the Birmingham & Solihull Growth Hub, working top down and bottom up to address the skills gaps hampering economic growth and local employment across the West Midlands. 

The council is also in the process of setting up four place-based social value forums focused on construction and development, new investment, and employers, which will connect to BBSP. These are –

• Digbeth Diggers – encompassing development in East Birmingham and North Solihull (EBNS) zone within the BCC Economy and Place Strategy including HS2 Curzon Street, Smithfield, Birmingham Knowledge Quarter and the Digbeth Prospectus area.
• North Birmingham Social Value Forum – launching in January 2026, this forum will be attached to the North Birmingham Economic Recovery Board (NBERB), encompassing Peddimore and Langley.
• Building South Birmingham – encompassing Longbridge, Druids Heath, and Selly Oak development, including the Birmingham Health Innovation Centre (BHIC), and development south side of the city centre including the Edgbaston Cricket Ground redevelopment.
• Ladywood and West – coalescing around the Ladywood Housing Regeneration Programme, bringing collaborative social value delivery from developments in and around the Ladywood constituency area.