51 senior leaders from across the built environment have joined the City of London Corporation’s Skills for a Sustainable Skyline Taskforce as Associate Members.

Among the new Associate Members are representatives from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Greater London Authority, City & Guilds, Better Buildings Partnership, Keltbray, Lendlease, London First and Morgan Sindall.

They will champion the taskforce and resource its working groups to drive change across the commercial construction sector.

Chairman of the Skills for a Sustainable Skylines Taskforce and City of London Corporation Policy Chairman, Chris Hayward, said:

“We are very fortunate to have the benefit of some exceptional industry leaders on our new Associate Membership.

“With their expertise and willingness to deliver outputs at pace, we will see real change across our built environment in Central London as we move towards a net zero future.

“Anyone working in this sector who shares our passion for securing skilled workers for sustainable commercial buildings should partner with us in sharing data and insights to drive this important agenda.”

Deputy Chair of the Skills for a Sustainable Skylines Taskforce and Chief Executive of the City Property Association, Charles Begley, said:

“We now have all the resources we need to kickstart the crucial work of gathering evidence on workforce and training gaps so that we can formulate effective response activities.

“We will ensure that the taskforce covers new ground and delivers outputs that will change the face of the built environment sector, with our new Associate Members being the driving force to make this change happen.”

The taskforce will focus on evidence gathering in its first year to better understand the skills gaps, barriers to action, the business case for investment in skills, and qualification and training gaps.

It will then focus on delivering a workforce engagement campaign to encourage those already working in the built environment sector to upskill and reskill with ‘green skills’. It will also look to attract diverse new entrants into the sector from schools, colleges and universities.

The initiative supports the aims of the City Corporation’s radical Climate Action Strategy - which commits to net-zero carbon emissions across the City Corporation’s operations by 2027. The City Corporation also aims to become net-zero across its investments and supply chain by 2040 - and to support the achievement of net zero for the whole Square Mile by the same year.

The taskforce will be formally launched next month.

After its conclusion in 2025, the taskforce is expected to share the research and lessons learned with other UK regions which have high concentrations of commercial buildings – including Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow.

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Notes to Editors:

The full list of the Skills for a Sustainable Skyline Taskforce’s new Associate Members is available here.

The definition of ‘Central London’ will be those areas represented on the Central London Forward strategic sub-regional partnership – Camden, the City of London, Hackney, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Westminster, Haringey and Lewisham. https://centrallondonforward.gov.uk 

About the City of London Corporation

The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally-successful UK. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

Shani Annand-Baron
Media Officer, City of London Corporation
shani.annand-baron@cityoflondon.gov.uk or 07710 860885