1. Protecting people, property and the environment Labour Market Intelligence Report May 2014

2. Labour Market Intelligence Report Specific aims included: 1.Analysis of the sector in terms of number and type of employers, size and composition of the workforce and economic contribution; 2. Assessment of the demographics of the workforce, including the size and occupational breakdown; 3.Assessment of the current skills and labour market needs of employers, as well as how well the current workforce meets the needs of employers; and 4.Assessment of how the demand for skills and labour are likely to change over the course of the next decade.

3. Methodology 1.Desk Research 2.Employer Survey – 32 companies 3.In-depth Stakeholder Interviews – 5 stakeholders

4. BAFSA Membership Approximately 150+ businesses Estimates 5000 employees within the fire sprinkler sector No single SIC code for the sector Expectations of continuing growth Driven by: Legislation, new construction and Awareness/lobbying campaigns

5. Employer Survey Main business activity of organisations

6. Size of the Workforce in the UK

7. Age of the Workforce

8. Workforce Occupations

9. Performance Effects of the recent recession Varied effects across the industry 25% stated it had no effect at all 16% stated it had a ‘large’ effect Biggest challenges facing the industry Managing cash flows, competition (41% each) Finding new business, recruiting and retaining staff (34% each)

10. Future Performance Organisations were hopeful about the future 91% actively seeking to grow in the next 12 months Same proportion expect workforce to grow Positive expectations for the industry Next 3-5 years, 97% expect growth, no companies expect it to shrink.

11. Recruitment 4/5 have recruited new staff in the past 12 months Most commonly recruited occupations Admin and secretarial, trainees 34% Technical occupations 31% Only 22% recruited for skilled trade occupations Numbers recruited

12. Hard-To-Fill Vacancies Majority (53%) of organisations had HTFs 41% of these have more than half of vacancies as HTFs Most common causes for HTFs Few applicants with required skills (65%) Few applicants with required attitude, motivation or personality (53%)

13. Skills Needs Two-thirds of employers felt they had employees who were not fully proficient in their roles Need for additional training Of these, 43% felt less than 10% of their workforce has gaps, highest proportion was 25-49% Most common skills gaps were ‘technical, practical or job specific skills’ (57%) much higher than PSI (43%) Impact of skills gaps – increased workload for other staff (62%)

14. Nationally Recognised Qualifications Less than half have funded or arranged training for a recognised qualification Mean average 24% of workforce trained for qualification 5-9% most commonly trained (40%)

15. Training Providers Overall, organisations were very positive 81% ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ 19% ‘neither satisfied nor dissatisfied’ ‘Supplier and Mechanical Fire Protection equipment’ and ‘Other’ most likely to be ‘ neither satisfied nor dissatisfied’ (33%) Unable to source desired training (13%)

16. Young People and Apprenticeships Taken on anyone aged under 24 to their first job on leaving full-time education in the last 12 months

17. Young People and Apprenticeships 92% felt that young people were ‘fairly well prepared’ Only one organisation felt young people were ‘poorly prepared’ – time keeping, attendance and reliability issues. Only 22% of all organisations provided apprenticeships 58% of those who hired young people

18. Apprenticeships Only 28% offered adult employees apprenticeships Main reasons to persuade organisations to offer apprenticeships: Financial assistance (35%) 61% would use apprentices if they had the right kinds of external support Demand for higher level apprenticeships 44%

19. Sub-contractors 66% used sub-contractors in the past 12 months Larger organisations more likely to use them ‘Design, Installation and Maintenance of Mechanical Fire Protection Systems’ (80%) Sub-contractors most likely used for: Site Installation (71%) Design Engineering 48%) Project Management (24%)

20. Sub-contractors Sub-contractors account for an average of 28% of work completed by organisations

21. No technological developments Knowledge being lost Industry standards for sub-contractors Focus on residential fire sprinkler systems Research, Development and Other Concerns

22. Overall the state of the Fire Sprinkler industry is positive Expected growth, increase in workforce New recruits, vital role of training recognised Aging nature of the workforce Skills issues relating to ‘technical, practical or job specific skills’ Sub-contractors need basic qualfications or certification Conclusions

23. Protecting people, property and the environment Presented by Ruth Oliver Thank you