Lendlease director Angela Forbes is to lead a UK-wide initiative to recruit military service leavers and veterans into construction careers, after she was appointed chair of BuildForce.
Forbes, a commercial director at Lendlease since 2012, is one of the founding partners of CITB-funded BuildForce and a long-standing supporter of the armed forces.
In 2008, she created Lendlease’s Ex-Military Initiative to recruit service leavers and veterans.
She is also a director of BeOnsite, the not-for-profit company dedicated to helping disadvantaged people find work in the property and construction sectors.
She succeeds Andy Parker, who is director of defence at Morgan Sindall.
Michael Lennox, partnerships manager (Scotland) at CITB, said: “Angela’s passion and commitment to helping veterans find employment in the construction industry will be an asset to BuildForce’s ambitions and the excellent work they’ve delivered to date.”
Forbes added: “Ten years ago, I asked Lendlease for support because I wanted to do more to help our service leavers, veterans and our industry.
“Since then, BuildForce has grown into something quite remarkable. I’m honoured to be asked to be its new chair.”
Over the past 10 months BuildForce, which is sponsored by Crossrail, CTS, EY, Lendlease, Morgan Sindall and Wilson James, has paired 157 service leavers with industry mentors and helped set up 398 interviews, resulting in 63 job starts. Another 37 job starts were planned by the end of this month.
A total of around 14,000 personnel leave the Armed Forces each year, with many possessing skills that are transferable to construction.
