The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has awarded £430k from its flagship Industry Impact Fund to develop a comprehensive industry training programme to accelerate timber construction in the UK.
The funding will be used to develop training content and courses to improve pathways for those entering the construction industry, as well as help upskill and re-skill existing construction workers and equip them to meet the needs of the rapidly growing timber construction sector. It will also help support the aims of the Timber in Construction Roadmap, a Government-Industry partnership launched earlier this year.
The funding bid was developed by a consortium of industry partners led by CITB levy-payer Donaldson Offsite, a leading offsite timber manufacturer in the UK. The consortium includes education institutions Edinburgh Napier University and New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE), the construction innovation centre Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), along with industry bodies Structural Timber Association (STA), and Timber Development UK (TDUK).
If you’d like to register your interest in the upcoming training programme, visit: https://www.be-st.build/timber-in-construction-skills
“CITB is very proud to be working alongside industry partners to support the timber sector to train, develop and retain its workforce. It’s essential to encourage collaboration across the industry to tackle skills shortages, improve diversity, and future-proof the workforce,” said Vanessa Freeman, Head of Grant and Funding Projects at CITB.
“Timber construction is one of the fastest growing construction sectors, driven by a need for carbon reduction across the built environment. This funding will help bridge the skills gap that exists in this and other parts of the construction industry to help the timber sector achieve its potential.”
“We’re incredibly proud to have led this bid on behalf of the timber construction sector and deeply grateful to the CITB for their support,” said Alex Goodfellow, CEO of Donaldson Offsite and Chair of the Confederation of Timber Industries (CTI).
“It’s been inspiring to see such a broad cross-section of the supply chain come together behind this initiative — a clear demonstration of how important timber construction is to the future of our industry. The project, starting in October 2025 and running for 24 months, will understand deeply the gaps industry is experiencing around existing learning materials and delivery. From this gap analysis, the aim is to develop robust, effective accredited courses, whilst creating clear career pathways to upskill and reskill the workforce, focusing on the management and on-site delivery of offsite manufactured modern methods of construction (MMC) using structural timber.
