THE Gwynedd construction industry faces a skills time bomb as an ageing workforce heads towards retirement, a leading building industry figure has warned.

Tom Anwyl, director of Anwyl Construction, which currently has over £100 million of projects on its books, is concerned for the future of one of the UK’s key economic sectors.

The group are currently active in the county where they are building a major extra-care residential scheme for Grwp Cynefin in Porthmadog, an extension to the Memorial Hospital at Blaenau Ffestiniog and new housing at Holyhead and Felinheli.

Mr Anwyl said: “The construction industry is one of the key areas of the local and national economy and is a barometer of how that economy is faring.

“Traditionally we lead the way out of a recession and often the first signs of an impending slump are felt in the building industry but what concerns me is the looming shortage of skilled workers in Gwynedd and across north Wales.

“This amounts to a ticking time bomb as skilled workers approach retirement and there is a shortfall of those being trained to replace them.

“At Anwyl we are proud of our record in training – 20 per cent of our staff of 150 actually began with us as apprentices and many of those are now in senior positions within the company.

“We encourage our sub-contractors to take on apprentices and their willingness and commitment to apprenticeships is one of the criteria we use in taking them on.

“Apprentices are the lifeblood of the industry and never more than now as an ageing workforce combined with competitive salaries from other fields has seen a decline in the number of skilled workers in the construction sector.

“We have built links with the Prince’s Trust and Communities First and work with our client partners to offer work experience and opportunities within the industry.”

See this week’s north editions for the full story, in shops and online on Thursday