DiverseCity Surveyors to infuse ‘RICS APC competencies’ via strategic alliance with LSBU_MCA

The Mayors Construction Academy programme [see here] continues to gain traction, industry awareness and commitment across London, using a tangible model which seeks to fuse academia, business and global best practice across the UK construction industry. Essentially the MCA programme is an attempt to ‘future-proof’ the industry and diversify the talent pool “by helping more Londoner’s train in the skills they need to access construction sector vacancies on the capitals housing construction sites”. At the time of writing, the current and looming ‘skills-crisis’ is actually, not as bad as it could be. However, objective, sustainable and ‘urban inclusive solutions’ must be implemented to ensure that we stem the ‘leaky pipe’ of talent that continues to exist across the sector.

In consideration of the above, and at a recent event held at the Passmore Centre in the London Borough of Southwark, an ensemble of academics, industry leaders and community ‘grass-root’ organisations [including Lewisham Construction Hub's, Ms Denise Atkinson, see here] converged to attend the historic ‘Breakfast Meeting’. The formal ‘stakeholder networking event’ was convened at a celebratory event hosted at City Hall earlier this year, which was also attended by ‘fellow disruptor’ Mark Farmer, CEO of Cast Consultancy [see here]

DCS Founder and Chair, Bola Abisogun OBE, was invited to attend the Mayoral event last year, along with other dignitaries, with particular reference to the award winning and hugely successful, pan-London initiative called Moving on Up ‘MOU’. Now in Phase 2, which is also being supported by the GLA’s Workforce Integration Network ‘WIN’ (part of the Mayor’s All of Us strategy), the MoU Advisory Group, chaired by Bola and administered by BTEG [see here] continues to work with the Mayors Office to ensure that we improve London’s social integration and build stronger communities. The last MoU event, which was significantly over-subscribed, can be seen here.

Last year, London Southbank University ‘LSBU’ were successful in their bid [which was also supported by Urbanis] to achieve the MCA Quality Mark to deliver one of the Mayors Construction Academies ‘MCA’. LSBU_MCA Hub Co-Ordinator, Amanda Winder, issued the following statement:

“At the launch of LSBU’s Mayor’s Construction Academy (MCA) skills hub today (26 June), there was a discussion about how the MCA is aiming to close the construction skills gaps in south London and ensure that training standards meets industry needs.

LSBU’s MCA will become a one stop shop for those in south London who want to work in the sector and for construction employers working in the area, to help them develop their talent pipeline.

At LSBU’s MCA hub, we will work collaboratively with our training partners, employers and recruiters to inspire and promote the best career opportunities available in the construction sector - particularly as we can offer apprenticeships from Level 2 to 7 (trade, to technical, to professional).

The purpose of the new construction skills hub at LSBU is to work collaboratively, sharing best practice, offering career pathways and joining the dots.

We will focus on achieving our KPI targets for work placements, careers advice, and apprenticeship placements to employment opportunities. Another key KPI is sustained employment. Currently construction is not a very diverse sector and we will be looking to address this by highlighting a particular focus on BAME, women and disabled groups. To achieve this, we will engage with partners such as WIN/MOU and Bounceback and DiverseCity Surveyors…….”

As a member of the London Regional Board, working with the leadership team at RICS led by Sean Tompkins (CEO), Bola will work closely with the LSBU_MCA to promote greater diversity across the sector amidst the emerging 'Inspire Programme' in seeking to further embellish the engagement of RICS with local schools. Bola will also join the LSBU_MCA Operational Team and ensure that the relevant BAME KPI’s are suitably monitored. As an RICS APC Assessor, Bola will also ensure that career defining RICS APC competencies [see here] are extended to LSBU Surveying undergraduates, all of whom will be enticed to learn about Modern Methods of Construction ‘MMC’ (including 5DBIM), which is notably unique to the LSBU_MCA offer.