Minister in Forces call

HOUSING minister Brandon Lewis visited RAF Northolt to issue a call to arms to former servicemen and women to consider a new career in construction.

The Tory MP argued that men and women who have served in the Armed Forces are equipped with the skills in construction, civil engineering and the built environment sector that the industry needs.

He said: “The brave men and women in uniform who have served their country in our Armed Forces should be at the front of the queue for skilled construction careers when they return to Civvy Street.”

Housebuilding levels are now more than double those seen in 2009 but the construction sector needs 200,000 recruits in the next five years, Mr Lewis said.

He was speaking at a BuildForce recruitment event at RAF Notholt on June 30.

Steve Radley, director of policy at the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), said: “BuildForce helps ex-servicemen and women take the skills they’ve learned in the forces into construction, where they can build the hundreds of thousands of new homes Britain needs.”