What CITB’s New Strategy Means for the Future of Construction Leadership

Something exciting is happening in construction leadership.

The CITB has just published its Strategic Plan for 2025–2029, and while it rightly focuses on skills, recruitment and infrastructure delivery — there’s a quiet but important shift in the spotlight to retention, inclusion, and leadership.

If we want to tackle the skills gap for good, this shift couldn’t come soon enough.

From building skills to building culture

For years, much of the conversation around the skills crisis has centred on getting more people into the industry. And of course, that still matters. This plan includes ambitious goals to attract 15,000+ new entrants each year and promote construction careers to 5 million people.

But what stood out most to me and what directly echoes the work we do at INSIDE Coaching is the growing recognition that new entrants alone won’t solve the problem.

“We must balance new entrants, workforce development, retention, and productivity gains.” – CITB Strategic Plan 2025–29

Put simply: we need to keep great people in the industry.

Retention is still a big issue - particularly for mums in construction

Retaining women in UK construction remains a significant challenge. Factors such as limited career advancement opportunities, inadequate support, and work-life balance issues contribute to attrition.

Recent data is still revealing a troubling trend: more women than men are leaving careers in construction and engineering, with an alarming increase in women aged 35 to 44 exiting engineering roles.

We know based on the average age for starting a family that many of these women are likely to be mums, highlighting the need for organisations to address the challenges that come with balancing family life and a career in the sector.

Underrepresentation in leadership:

While there are more women working in the UK construction industry, they are still underrepresented in senior leadership positions. According to Randstad, 38% of female construction workers have never had a female manager and 52% mentioned a lack of training for women.

Funded, Flexible, Inclusive and Urgent

As a CITB Approved Training Organisation (ATO), I’ve been quietly cheering the plan’s renewed focus on:

• Flexible leadership training

• Free or funded development in inclusion and mental health

• Improved access to CITB funding through local Employer Networks

• New competence pathways that support both returners and future leaders

This is funding for culture change.

That means:

• You can support mums returning from maternity to build confidence and capability

• You can support mums who are first-time managers with flexile leadership training

• You can invest in a leadership pipeline that genuinely reflects the values and reality of your workforce

And you can do it with support from us and from CITB.

Leadership That Reflects Real Life

At INSIDE Coaching, we work with construction companies who understand that leadership can’t be one-size-fits-all.

Our programmes like INSIDE Leadership and our bespoke consultancy support through INSIDE Construction are:

• Designed for real-life challenges, not just theory

• Timed around the school run, site meetings, and life

• Backed by CITB funding where eligible

• Built to support retention, culture, and capability

We are proud to be part of the solution that CITB’s new strategy calls for and even prouder to be working with businesses already leading the way.

The Opportunity Is Now

Construction has always been about legacy. The things we build that outlast us.

This plan is an opportunity to build a new kind of legacy: one where mums feel like they belong in construction leadership and have the tools to thrive.

We can’t afford to keep losing talent we’ve worked so hard to bring in.

Want to know how CITB funding could support your team’s leadership journey?

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