Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) is a programme developed to upskill employees within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South East Midlands. It provides recognised accredited qualifications and bespoke training courses to enhance your employees’ skills, increase the competitiveness of your business and boost the local economy.

The Construction Skills People Ltd is part of Serco’s network of expert organisations chosen to deliver the SSW programme. SSW is co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

AW Installations Ltd (AWI Ltd) was formed in 1987 as an independent office furniture installations company with the company’s head office and warehouse located in Bedford.

Employing 15 members of staff, AWI Ltd have work directly with multiple manufacturers to support an impressive portfolio of end-user Clients, including; BP, Oracle UK Ltd, Pricewaterhouse, Epson, The Northern Trust Company, Shell UK and HSBC Bank.

AWI Ltd understands that the installation of major, quality office refits requires a competent, specialist, committed and coordinated service team. This is complimented by a management structure that is flexible in approach. AWI Ltd employ experienced installation crews who are CSCS accredited, DBS checked, first aid trained and hold certificates in Health & Safety and Manual Handling.

AWI Ltd have successfully set-up a nationwide network of warehouse facilities and highly competent fitting teams. These ensure that site installations can be carried out with minimal travel and logistical expenses – however does create a barrier for delivering multi-learner training in one location. The company was made aware of the Skills Support for the Workforce funded skills training through the Construction Skills People on social media.

Amy White, from AWI Ltd said: “After an initial conversation with the Construction Skills People, it was apparent that the Skills Support for the Workforce programme could help us deliver the training we needed to support the objectives of both our staff and our business.

“The programme has allowed 6 members of our site-based fitting staff to receive training in Level 2 NVQ Certificate in Fitted Interiors (Construction).

“The delivery of the training programme was arranged around the needs of our working schedules and, overall, it did not impact on our work schedules as we coordinated it with Construction Skills People to ensure that this was not the case.”

By completing this training, 6 staff members can now prove their competence and expertise on site with a qualification – a qualification which can be used as part of their demonstration of competence to gain a CSCS card.

By gaining this qualification for staff who have since gone on to gain their CSCS cards, AWI Ltd has been in a position to tender more competitively for new projects as they are seen, by Clients, to be a business that can demonstrate their workforces’ skills, knowledge and attitude towards safety on site. 

Amy concludes: “When we require further staff training, we would certainly consider the Skills Support for the Workforce programme again”