Skills News

From 1 October 2026, the UK’s right to work regime will undergo its most significant expansion in years. What’s changing? New legislation extends compliance obligations beyond traditional employment relationships to cover contractors, subcontractors, and labour supplied through third parties. For businesses in our sector, where subcontracting, labour-only operatives, and agency labour are part of everyday […]

The National Association of Shopfitters has been appointed to deliver the CITB Specialist Upskilling Project (SUP) — a programme designed to help members’ existing workforces access S/NVQ qualifications and overcome the barriers that have historically made upskilling in the shopfitting sector difficult to navigate. The NAS will provide delivery and guidance support to help members

We’re pleased to announce the launch of four new subcommittees under the Wood Occupations & Materials Alliance (WOMA) banner, a joint initiative between the National Association of Shopfitters (NAS) and the Institute of Carpenters (IOC). These subcommittees mark a significant step forward in how we organise our collective efforts across membership, industry standards, and the

The National Association of Shopfitters (NAS) and the Institute of Carpenters (IOC) have received a letter from the Right Honourable Baroness Smith of Malvern, Minister for Skills, recognising the contribution of both organisations to the reform of Apprenticeship Assessment Plans (AAPs) across the Construction and Built Environment sector. A message from NAS and IOC UK

New data published by the CSCS Alliance offers some genuinely encouraging news for the construction and fit-out sector: the number of cards issued to workers under the age of 25 rose by 8.8% between 2023 and 2025, reaching 94,444 — and this growth came at a time when overall card issuance across the industry actually

Introducing the WOMA Academy: Professional Training, at a Price That Makes Sense  Training your team shouldn’t be a luxury. But for many businesses in the shopfitting and interior fit-out sector, the cost, complexity, and time involved in keeping staff properly trained has always been a barrier. The WOMA Academy is here to change that.    What is the WOMA Academy? 

From 1 October 2026, the UK’s right to work regime will undergo its most significant expansion in years. For shopfitters, fit-out contractors, and interior specialists, the changes are worth understanding now — because the new rules extend well beyond your employed workforce.   What’s Changing? Section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act

The newly released Skills England Sector Skills Needs Assessment: Construction report outlines the shifting workforce landscape over the next decade. Driven by infrastructure pipelines and the government’s target to build 1.5 million homes, the construction and fit-out sectors face an unprecedented demand for qualified, skilled labor. Here is a general summary of the key findings

The card verification platform CSCS Smart Check has officially launched a major data upgrade. The platform is the only system that verifies all 2.3 million cards carrying the CSCS logo. What is changing? The new system captures richer, site-level data during card scans through new API fields, including: GPS Coordinates: Pinpointing exactly where a card