South Bank Colleges welcomed construction education leaders, training partners and industry specialists to London South Bank Technical College’s Nine Elms Campus for the BACH London Regional Event on Friday 22 May 2026.

The event brought together members of the British Association of Construction Heads, alongside representatives from colleges, professional bodies and employer-facing organisations, for a focused discussion on the future of construction education, green skills, inspection, employability and progression into industry.

The programme included contributions from Luke McCarthy on the Green Skills Advisory Panel, Sanjay Modasia from SOPHE, the Society of Public Health Engineers, Neil McManus from Future Faraday Projects, Cliff Pooley from NOCN Group, and David Baber, who spoke on Raising Standards in Construction. The afternoon programme also included an update from Tim Weston on London South Bank Technical College becoming a TEC Hub for Clean Energy, Simon Parker on the NCC Construction TEC, and Lucy Carrick from Quantum, who gave an overview of green skills sectors.

A major theme running through the event was how colleges can work more closely with employers and professional bodies to help learners move from training into skilled careers. This was especially clear in Sanjay Modasia’s presentation for SOPHE, where he spoke about the need to show plumbing and building services learners that their future can go far beyond the first trade qualification.

Drawing on his own career, which began with an apprenticeship at 16 and developed into senior industry roles, Sanjay highlighted the importance of giving young people clear routes into commercial work, design, engineering and professional development. He explained how SOPHE and its Plumbing Centre of Excellence help bridge the gap between domestic plumbing training and the wider commercial building services sector.

The presentation showed how employer links, CPD sessions, competitions, bursaries and industry-led learning can raise students’ ambitions and help them understand the broader opportunities available in public health engineering. His message was clear: construction and building services careers are not limited to “hard hats and muddy boots”. They can lead to design, consultancy, management, engineering and international opportunities.

Neil McManus from Future Faraday Projects continued this practical focus by discussing work being developed for Level 3 electrical learners. His presentation explored a common challenge for colleges and employers: how to make sure technically capable students are also ready for the expectations of the workplace.

Neil outlined a free employability and technical challenge designed to support students with the habits and knowledge employers value. This includes areas such as CV preparation, job searching, interview readiness, professional use of platforms such as LinkedIn, and understanding how to present college work as evidence of real skills. The technical side of the challenge asks learners to work through realistic electrical design tasks, including using industry guidance and recording their answers clearly.

A key point was that employability is not just about telling students to “get a job”. It is about helping them understand what employers are looking for, how to communicate their skills, how to prepare for interviews and how to show punctuality, commitment and professionalism. The session also explored how employers can support colleges through masterclasses, workplace links, judging panels and skills competitions.

David Baber, speaking as a BACH member and construction specialist with Ofsted inspection experience, then gave a construction-focused look at the changing inspection landscape. His session was particularly useful because it translated wider inspection language into the everyday reality of vocational and technical departments.

David discussed the revised inspection framework and the need for colleges to understand what good evidence looks like in construction and building services provision. He highlighted the growing focus on inclusion, noting that many construction departments already do significant work to support learners with different needs, backgrounds and barriers. The challenge, he suggested, is often not that colleges are failing to support learners, but that they do not always record and evidence this work clearly enough.

He also explored how assessment should be understood more broadly than final exams or formal tests. In practical subjects, assessment can happen through questioning, workshop observation, short tasks, feedback, skills checks and the way teachers adjust learning when students need more support. For construction teams, this means recognising and recording the good teaching and support already happening in workshops, classrooms and employer settings.

For London South Bank Technical College, hosting the event at Nine Elms reflected the college’s growing role in technical education, construction training and green skills. The discussions linked strongly to the college’s developing work around clean energy, technical excellence, employer partnerships and routes into skilled careers.

The event also gave colleges and partners a valuable chance to share challenges, exchange practical solutions and explore how the construction sector can support the next generation of skilled workers. From plumbing and public health engineering to electrical skills, inspection, employability and clean energy, the day showed how collaboration between education and industry can help learners build stronger futures.

South Bank Colleges was pleased to host the BACH London Regional Event and support a conversation focused on raising standards, widening opportunity and preparing learners for the changing world of construction and green technology.