Yes, you heard it right, we’re almost ready to go live with our latest offering: The ABC Assessment Centre YouTube Channel.
Over the course of this year, we’ll be showcasing a whole range of different content related to bricklayer training every week, from “how to” install videos for modern masonry products to interviews with the sector’s most prominent figures, as well as loads more content besides. And you’ll have access to all of it through subscription to the channel!
Why a YouTube Channel?
The thinking behind launching The ABC Assessment Centre YouTube Channel is to create the most engaging training content, not just for aspiring bricklayers of the next generation but for employers wanting to upskill their workforce internally.
YouTube is the perfect platform for showcasing our full-length install videos for modern masonry methods such as installing masonry support angles, non-combustible cavity trays, brick slip soffits and façade cladding systems; which we’ll be launching every week in short-format videos as a taster of what we have to offer.
Not only that, but we’ll be collaborating with members of the Association of Brickwork Contractors to interview the biggest employers in the UK brickwork industry to get their thoughts on the state of construction, issues facing the sector and what they’re doing to boost training and retain talent.
We’ll also hear from manufacturers, suppliers and other members of the supply chain to delve into how they work with bricklaying sub-contractors to deliver award-winning projects, as well as look at the personal stories behind careers in brickwork through the lens as part of #YourConstructionStory.
Supplementing, Not Replacing Training
Of course, our raison d’etre at The ABC Assessment Centre is to promote a high level of robust training and offer NVQ assessments to ensure there is demonstrable work-based competence in an age where accountability has never been more important.
This is why it must be stressed that the creation of The ABC Assessment Centre YouTube channel is not an effort to create a one-off digital training package to replace on-the-job upskilling or all the great work we’re doing in colleges for young people. Far from it.
The intention is to offer another dimension of training that can be accessed any time, replayed over and over and used in conjunction with accredited training and product CPDs.
As Centre Manager, Simon Livett explains: ““Our “how to” install videos are the foundation of the YouTube channel and unique in the sense that no other training provider in the country is delivering high-level accredited training against their standards, so it’s our prerogative as the training arm of The ABC to share best practice installation on what is the biggest video sharing platform.
We’ve tried really hard to keep the videos relatable, easy to follow and well-structured so they can bring maximum benefit to predominantly visual learners, as it would be fair to say most construction professionals are.”
Who Would Benefit From Subscription?
We firmly believe that The ABC Assessment Centre YouTube Channel will be of interest to several groups of people within construction, namely:
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Specialist Brickwork Contractors
Any brickwork contractor working on the construction of ‘high risk’ category buildings will know the inherent risks associated with supplying labour to fit fire barriers, take on the masonry support package or install non-combustible cavity trays, for example, for fear that they fall short of the levels of competence required to carry out that task.
So, as well as engaging with The ABC Assessment Centre and providing accredited training in a given area of modern masonry, these full-length install videos could be used to bolster in-house training, toolbox talks, product CPDs, or used as material for new joiners/apprentices, supervisors, managers and quality assurance teams.
The same applies to specialist contractors like steel fixers, where there are several courses – masonry support angle installation, brick slip systems, brick soffit systems, windpost installation – that would directly relate to their day-to-day work.
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Further Education Colleges
As you may or may not already know, The ABC Assessment Centre does a lot of work in colleges to deliver its programme of 16 short courses to young people, thereby supplementing curriculum delivery with the latest skills students will need when they get into the world of work.
We’d love for all UK colleges – above and beyond the 16 we’re currently engaged with as part of the CITB funded project – to benefit from offering their brickwork students the opportunity to gain an insight into modern methods of construction and the possibilities open to them when entering the industry.
Increasing skill levels needs to start before operatives set foot on site, and our dream is to stamp out the lackadaisical, “learn-as-you-go” approach to modern site work by supplying relevant knowledge and practical competence from a younger age all over the country.
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Main Contractors, Designers & Specifiers
These are just some of the groups higher up the construction supply chain that would benefit from subscription to The ABC Assessment Centre YouTube Channel. Even at the pre-construction stage, having access to information related to the correct installation of a finished system aids training and gives a greater awareness of the impacts of design and specification.
Equally, arming site agents, surveyors, buyers, estimators, engineers, site managers, project managers, quality assurance staff, building inspectors, etc. with additional knowledge about the various modern techniques will only be beneficial to their professional development and will allow them to quality check work and avoid defects associated with non-compliance.
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Manufacturers & Suppliers
Yes, even the manufacturers of the products being installed could benefit from the video content. What better way to supplement any product-specific training than with a best practice guide for how to install their products in a site environment?
This will benefit sales teams, especially when interacting with specialist contractors and discussing their requirements, as well as production, front-of-house and back-office staff.
How Do I Get Access To The ABC Assessment Centre YouTube Channel?
In a nutshell, the channel will have 2 types of subscription – basic and paid. The basic subscription will give you access to the promotional “How To” install videos as well as other content we’ll upload intermittently, while the paid subscription will be based on an annual fee to receive all the long-format videos and exclusive content we add over the course of the year.
