Booking is now open for Open Doors 2025, which will see construction organisations across the country host tours of their sites and other workplaces between 17th and 22nd March.
With the construction industry reckoned to need 50,000 recruits a year, the annual Open Doors event is considered to be a significant recruiting tool.
The event has its origins in Open House London, an educational architecture charity that persuades owners of interesting buildings in the capital to open their doors to the public for a weekend or longer.
Open Doors is run by the Build UK trade association. Initially offering the public an opportunity to visit live construction sites, these days the focus is on school visits.
Doors being opened this year include factories of materials manufacturers, depots of hire companies (HSS and Sunbelt) and head offices of construction contractors (Skanska) as well as some actual construction sites.
Construction sites that are likely to prove attractive include HS2's Old Oak Common and the nearby Victoria Road crossover box, as well as Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, where a new stand is being built, and perhaps the Central African Rainforest that is going in at Bristol Zoo.
Other projects taking visitors behind the site hoardings include the redevelopment of the Children’s Cancer Centre at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, the £220m refurbishment of the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil and the development of the five-storey Hamilton Dock Hotel within the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.
Build UK chair Julie White said: “Open Doors brings to life an industry that offers a career for everyone – whether that is on site or behind the scenes in an office-based role – and never has this type of initiative been more important to help meet the government’s commitment to ‘get Britain building’.
“While the tours themselves provide intriguing backdrops to explore the range of roles available, they are also a unique opportunity to talk to construction leaders and apprentices about their route into the industry.
“Nearly 90% of the 5,000 visitors that attended an Open Doors event last year said they were more likely to consider a career in construction following their visit, so I’d urge everyone to book onto an event now and find out just what construction has to offer.”
To view participating sites and organisations and to book a visit, see https://opendoors.construction.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
