Fears over lack of heritage craftspeople joining industry

A heritage construction company is trying to inspire the next generation into the industry due to an “aging workforce”.

DBR Limited, the company helping restore St Peter’s Church in Brighton, says there is a “generational gap” due to fewer young people training in heritage skills.

The company has set up an education centre in Wiston, near Steyning in West Sussex, where it will be running workshops for young people.

“We want to educate the next generation of craftspeople into heritage and conservation”, said Adrian Atwood, executive director and chairman of DBR Limited.

Mr Atwood said: “We have a real lack of new people coming into the industry, we have an aging workforce. So we have a bit of a generational gap which we have to bridge.

“It’s getting very urgent that we try and get new people into vocational skills. I think part of it is that young people aren’t really taught at school about the potential of vocational careers.”

The education centre runs several workshops including for stonemasonry, joinery and lead working. It also has a lecture theatre for educational sessions.

The centre also operates as a full-working historic building conservation space.

Eugene Ehrman, a stonemason, who is working on a stone which helps form an arch at St Peter’s Church, says: “This will take about seven days in total, so quite a while.

“When you do a big stone like this, you do forget how difficult stonemasonry is.”

DBR currently has 15 stonemasons on its books.

Mr Atwood says it normally takes up to five years to become an accomplished stonemason and 10 years to get to master craftsman level.