Keeping traditional

Specialised work and small, often family, businesses are the lifeblood of many rural communities across Scotland – and we must do more to protect them, says Stewart Nicol

As a nation we are running the risk of traditional crafts being forgotten and legacies being lost as succession planning becomes an impossible task thanks to the ill provision, and in some cases, promotion, of apprenticeships and college courses designed to equip young people with specialised skills.

Specialised trades and small, often family, businesses are the lifeblood of many rural communities across Scotland, never mind in the Highlands – and we must do more to protect and provide for them.

We are guilty of overlooking the niche, specialised skills that communities are in dire need of in our relentless focus on the path of high academic achievement and university degrees. Too often young people are choosing the latter thanks to pressure from above.

In Scotland we are currently seeing a big push by government in Holyrood to hit a target of 30,000 new apprentices by the end of the current parliament – consisting of modern apprentices (carried out in the workplace), foundation apprenticeships (carried out in the classroom and on organised work placements) and traditional craft apprenticeships, which pass specific skills down to the next generation.

Just recently the Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Inverness and Central Highland group attended a board meeting where this issue was flagged. One comment in particular – from a leading Invernessbased businessman in the glazing industry – struck me. Whilst ten percent of his workforce is currently undergoing an apprenticeship, one area lagging behind is traditional glazing. There is a clear and obvious need for glazing apprentices; however the only place to provide the essential qualification is 187 miles away in East Kilbride.

That’s not even the biggest problem. For the second consecutive year the training provider is not running the glazing course due to lack of interest – and as an industry there are real concerns of losing the core traditional glazing skills that are supplemented, not replaced, by technology and material advancements. This begs the question of whether or not we are doing enough to promote that this qualification actually exists?

The problem is visible in other industries in the Highlands, and replicated across rural communities spanning Scotland in its entirety.

Up north, construction firms are facing a recruitment crisis when it comes to finding quantity surveyors. The closest available course for this is in Glasgow. When you factor in transport and displacement costs, let alone young people willing to undertake this upheaval, quantity surveying apprenticeships are just not feasible for some smaller businesses.

This shortage will only become more apparent as current employees reach retirement. This problem will not go away, and must be acted upon now. We have a duty – as members of the community, as parents and as education providers to listen to the concerns of local businesses.

When our experienced craftsmen retire who is going to replace them? ● Stewart Nicol is chief executive of the Inverness Chamber of Commerce