Joining The 5% Club: Why apprentices are critical to the future of infrastructure
Opinion
WCL Infrastructure is now a member of The 5% Club, recognising its continued ambition to develop the next generation of infrastructure and management professionals. As members of The 5% Club, we’re committed to having at least 5% of our workforce in ‘earn and learn’ positions, such as apprentices and trainees.
WCL sees this as a critical move in tackling the demographic and skills challenges facing the infrastructure sector. As it stands, infrastructure is facing an acute shortage of fresh talent:
The state of infrastructure: apprentices
- Approximately 24,590 new construction apprentices joined in 2024/25 (latest data at time of writing)
- This represents a modest 1.5% rise from 2023/24, ending two years of stagnation
- Despite this, it still falls well short. The UK needs approximately 50,000 new additions to the construction workforce each year to meet 2024-2028 construction demand
Right Track: WCL’s bespoke pathway for apprentices
We’re proud to meet The 5% Club standard as a business, but we want to go further. As well as within our own company, WCL seeks to actively drive an increase in apprenticeships among our clients and partners across infrastructure.
We’re doing this through our dedicated early-career pathway programme, ‘Right Track’. Right Track is all about creating and supporting impactful apprenticeships in the organisations and projects that WCL works with.
Right Track apprentices stand out because they can be seconded into other WCL projects across the UK and Ireland during their two- or three-year training pathway, with mentorship from senior WCL consultants.
This gives the apprentice significant, early exposure to a diversity of large project environments and professional challenges. For the sponsor organisation, this means structured and low-risk access to apprentices who grow rapidly into confident, effective professionals.
Through this, we’re helping our customers deliver projects that leave a lasting legacy – not only due to the works themselves, but from the regional careers and skillsets that continue to grow after their completion.
Helping operators and contractors deliver projects with lasting legacy
The 5% Club reflects our passionate belief that long term development of talent is the foundation for sustainable growth and social value infrastructure.
The Right Track programme is the vehicle for achieving that development.
If you’re interested in a fast, effective, supported route to creating apprentices through your infrastructure programme, get in touch or learn more about our ‘Right Track’ offering.
