Great Charles Street Skills Centre Initiative with WMCA, John Sisk and Sunbelt Rentals

Building Brum

This February on the Building Brum podcast we are joined by some of the stakeholders behind the Skills Hub initiative taking place at the latest MODA development coming out of the ground on Great Charles Street. We are speaking with Matthew Hood of Sunbelt Rentals, Shaun Hall from the West Midlands Combined Authority and Karl Johnson Social Value and Stakeholder manager at John Sisk. The Skills Hub offers local people free construction training and a guaranteed job interview at the end of the 20-day course and follows on from the earlier success of another project by MODA “The Mercian” which created 140 new job opportunities.
The Building Brum podcast is kindly sponsored reality capture and point cloud modelling specialists ScanTech Digital, Solus, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of commercial floor and wall tiles, APIC UK Limited West Bromwich based Architectural Glazing specialists and Sunbelt Rentals with over 1,500,000 items of equipment- they are the largest providers of equipment hire in the UK.

Matthew Hood, Major Projects Sunbelt Rentals – Midlands

Recently celebrated 14 years at Sunbelt Rentals UK & Ireland. His focus is on major projects in the midlands, and he works with management & main contractors, subcontractors, local authorities, and other project partners. He offers project solutions and ESG across all services at Sunbelt.
Shaun Hall - West Midlands Combined Authority

Shaun is the Lead for Adult Retraining for the West Midlands Combined Authority, with extensive experience of connecting local communities to jobs. Shaun has specialist knowledge of working with the construction sector, including pioneering work with HS2 and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, helping to reskill local unemployed people so they can access new employment opportunities. He has a long career working in employability, including close partnerships with JCP, colleges and training providers.
Karl Johnson - Social Value and Stakeholder Manager - John Sisk.

I have many years of experience working within social value, providing opportunities for roles primarily within construction for individuals who may never have considered a career within the sector.

A passion for working with communities, schools, colleges and local businesses, as well as being a STEM ambassador and being on the Employment Advisory Board for HMMPS, I fundamentally believe in access to employment for all irrespective of background.