Looking Back at 2021 for Construction
16th December 2021
2021 has once again been a year for the history books, as the world continued to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. With ever-changing restrictions, backlogs and skills shortages, this year has highlighted the resilience of the construction industry as a whole.
For SIMIAN, 2021 has been another year of growth, with the addition of a new training centre (Anglesey), several new key staff members, and added diversification and depth to our training portfolio.
Below, we take a look at some of the key things that occurred for construction and SIMIAN in the last 12 months:
January
2021 didn’t get off to the best start, as the government announced an England-wide lockdown that began on the 4th Jan 2021. As a result, SIMIAN temporarily shut our training centre doors for the safety of learners and our teams. Read more here.
February
Inevitably, the temporary closure of training centres led to CISRS card renewal issues in February, as scaffolders were unable to attend their required CPD course. Read more here.
March
In addition to the announcement that training centres could once again open their doors, SIMIAN opened a brand-new training centre in March, a £2.1 million facility in Anglesey. Read more here.
April
April saw the relaunch of SIMIAN’s Pre-employment Training Scheme (PETS) at our London Academy for Sustainable Construction (LASC). Supporting Londoners to get back into work within a number of in-demand construction trades. Read more here.
May
SIMIAN’s training offering expanded even further in May as we joined forces with BIM Academy to provide a London base for Building Information Modelling (BIM) training at our LASC centre. Read more here.
June
Not only did we expand our training offering, but June saw our service offering also expand to provide general construction health and safety, with the addition of two construction health and safety specialists to our team. Read more here.
July
With more emphasis than ever on utilising ‘green’ solutions in construction (and refurbishment!), July saw the opening of the Green Energy Skills Hub at our LASC centre, that will focus on improving skills in green construction. Read more here.
August
Our London Academy of Sustainable Construction celebrated its official launch in August, with Councillor Simon Miller, representatives from Waltham Forest Council, SIMIAN partners and the SIMIAN team coming together to celebrate the latest phase of SIMIAN’s growth. Read more here.
September
In September, we told you about 17-year-old, Nickolas, who was following in the footsteps of his father in joining the scaffolding industry, with the support of training from SIMIAN. Read more here.
October
Following a scaffolder’s fall from a scaffold under construction, into a river below, Network Rail issued a safety bulletin in October, warning those working in similar environments of the precautions required. Read more here.
November
We made yet another exciting announcement in November, revealing that from 2022 SIMIAN will deliver a CISRS Layher Advanced Scaffolder Pilot Course. Read more here.
December
With so many exciting things on the horizon for the SIMIAN, not to mention countless opportunities for the construction industry over the coming 12 months, we are spending December busily planning for what 2022 will bring.
If you looking to improve scaffolding and construction safety for your workforce in 2022, contact the SIMIAN team today!