GQA Qualifications is 20 years old in January 2022 – this is our story

This month GQA Qualifications celebrates twenty years of trading.  As part of the activities to mark the event is a series of interviews with the directors of the organisation. Here we talk to Anda Gregory of the GGF who sits on the GQA board as a FENSA representative.

What does being a Director of GQA mean to you?

I’ve always had a passion for developing people. Moving into the glass and glazing industry a few years ago, I quickly became acutely aware of the skills shortage facing our industry, and believe we all need to do our bit to help improve the situation. GQA’s work – not just in the glass and glazing sector – is really important to give people who are new to the industry a way to learn and receive a qualification that will stay with them for life. GQA is helping people to progress their careers and raise standards. I’m proud to be part of that through my directorship with the organisation.

What do you think are the strengths of GQA?

The real strength of GQA is in its people, who are experienced, passionate and dedicated to raising standards. GQA is very focused on what it does in being an awarding body and this focus enables it to provide a great service.

What does your experience bring to the table?

I’ve worked across a range of different sectors over the years, which brings different perspectives to my contribution at Board meetings, as well as having a good understanding of what’s happening in the world of glass and glazing through my day job at the Glass & Glazing Federation. My roles over the years have been quite wide-ranging from starting off my career as a Chartered Accountant to strategy and general management, so I have an unusual blend of skills and experience that I can draw on at Board meetings. I am also a non-executive director at a couple of other not-for-profit organisations, which facilitates useful parallels when making decisions.

What changes have you seen in GQA over the past twenty years you’d like to highlight?

As a relative newcomer to the industry and GQA, I’m probably not best placed to answer this one, but it’s clear that GQA is adaptable as a business and has developed over time to meet new needs for the various industries it operates in. GQA has expanded over the years, but not at the expense of quality of service delivery.

How important do you feel qualifications and training are?

Very! Companies can’t operate effectively without proper training. Qualifications are a way to legitimise training and give the trainee something that stays with them for the rest of their lives to prove they’ve met a certain standard of competence and are fit to do their job. Well-trained employees and sub-contractors mean that work is far more likely to be done right first time. This reduces the need for remedial work, lowers levels of customer complaints, increases positive word of mouth recommendations, and improves a company’s profitability – who wouldn’t want that?

Where do you see GQA heading in the future?

GQA will continue listening to the needs of the employers in the industries it operates in, and developing and delivering fit-for-purpose qualifications and training courses to ensure a well-trained workforce. It will also continue investing to help more widely with the skills shortage through initiatives such as Building Our Skills, and investing in more practical training centres around the UK to give people the opportunity to receive good quality hands-on training.

John Ogilvie is one of GQA’s five Non-Executive Directors and an Ambassador for Building Our Skills – Making Fenestration a Career of Choice. He has been involved with GQA for four years.

What does being a Director of GQA mean to you?

It’s a real privilege to be part of the GQA ‘family’ where I’m able to use the experience I’ve built up over the past 30 years and complement that of the other directors to give something back. It’s gratifying to be involved with helping to make the industry attractive to potential new entrants and to help people to advance their skills in order to develop their career.

What do you think are the strengths of GQA?

I think it’s marvellous that GQA provides qualifications for such a broad range of roles in the fenestration industry without being material-biased. This impartial approach is one of its strengths, for sure. In addition, the organisation is flexible enough to be able to offer qualifications that are relevant because they meet the ever-changing demands of the industry.

What does your experience bring to the table?

I’ve worked with systems companies in marketing and sales roles, and latterly I ran a trade association dealing with all aspects of the supply chain. A key part of the latter was the training the association offered. Having been closely involved in that, and developing and running a competent persons scheme, my role with GQA feels like a natural progression and a good fit. I really appreciate the value of a qualification in order to prove competence – it’s a great thing to achieve and boosts the learner’s confidence. And of course, for employers, having formally assessed staff is a great way to differentiate your company from your competition.

What changes have you seen in GQA over the past twenty years you’d like to highlight?

I’ve been involved with GQA for four years, so I only really feel properly qualified to comment on that period. I’m very pleased to have witnessed the range of qualifications offered by GQA expand considerably in that time. GQA is the only body offering the CSCS card in the fenestration industry, and it’s been wonderful to see the uptake in this accelerate. I would also highlight GQA’s moves into other sectors such as printing, the nuclear industry, scouting and general construction. The exacting standards of, for example, the nuclear industry are testimony to GQA’s high quality offering.  In addition, it’s great to see the additional training centres around the country with whom GQA is now aligned. Each one is rigorously vetted to ensure it meets GQA’s high standards.

How important do you feel qualifications and training are?

Extremely important. The fenestration industry is a fantastic one in which to work. But, approximately 25% of its employees are set to retire over the next 10 years. This means the existing skills shortage could become even more acute. We need to attract new blood into the industry and demonstrate career paths that are underpinned by qualifications. Also, we need to be able to assist people who are considering a change of career and need qualifications to get started.

For employers, it’s crucial that they are able to retain staff, and one means of facilitating this is by investing in their skills and training. This is why the practical training offered by Building Our Skills is so important and why I’m an Ambassador of this not-for-profit organisation.

We’re a great industry, and we’ve just got to prove to people – especially young people – that this is an attractive place to work. The industry has moved on considerably, and today – as proved by GQA’s recent survey – parents are more likely to recommend it as an option for their offspring than they used to. With attitudes changing, it is no longer the case that parents are automatically pushing their offspring down the university route. These days, they are placing far more value than ever before on vocational training, which has got to be a good thing for the industry. We just need to keep hammering home the message that the fenestration industry offers a whole plethora of roles, and it’s not just all about selling windows and doors.

Where do you see GQA heading in the future?

I think we need to continue to listen carefully to industry employers and engage with them in order to ensure that we carry on offering qualifications that are relevant and in keeping with industry developments. Part of this picture will be to keep a close eye on legislation, building regulations and industry trends. An illustrative example of this point would be that as the influence of automation and I.T. grows apace, we might need to offer new qualifications to support them. As new roles and job types take shape we must make sure they are in our ‘basket’ of qualifications. In addition, we need to continue to focus on our core activities and promote the importance of training and qualifications generally.

Shaun McAllister is one of GQA’s four Non-Executive Directors. Shaun is additionally Sales & Marketing Director of MP Logic, a sales and manufacturing software development company in the window and door industry. He has been involved with GQA for three years.

What does being a Director of GQA mean to you?

I hope this doesn’t sound like a cliché, but it means giving something back. I’ve worked in numerous roles in the window industry over a thirty-year career, starting out as an installer and I am now a company director. I’m grateful for the opportunities it has given me, and now it’s my turn to give back to the industry. When I first started out, the sector was largely unregulated with very little training available. Today, it’s far more professionally operated with a much greater emphasis on achieving qualifications, which has got to be a good thing. I suppose when I started out it was a relatively young industry.

What do you think are the strengths of GQA?

I’d say it’s a combination of two things: its great team of people and the quality of the products it offers. By ‘products’ I mean the qualifications it develops. The GQA team is fantastic. Its people are highly experienced, having worked in the industry, and therefore they really understand its strengths and weaknesses. They fully ‘get’ what it’s like to be at the sharp end. GQA’s products truly benefit people in the industry, which is wonderful. The organisation’s great variety of qualifications spans the complete industry, and it’s exciting that it is expanding into other sectors too. Each qualification is important and relevant, i.e. it is a true measure of the requirements of the work aspect it covers.  These qualifications give people something to which to aspire, and provide recognition for their hard work in achieving certain competencies. There’s nothing quite like receiving an award for something you’ve succeeded in. It sets people up for life.

What does your experience bring to the table?

All of the other GQA Non-Executive Directors have specialist experience, but I think I bring a certain amount of experience from all of the fenestration sectors, which makes me a bit of an all-rounder. This makes me pretty well-placed to be able to advise and guide the GQA team in a variety of aspects of its work, and to be able to support it. I also think that working as I do with sole traders, SMEs and large companies is useful.

What changes have you seen in GQA over the past twenty years you’d like to highlight?

The main thing is the organisation’s prolific growth in that time, despite challenges presented by the government. There’s a big demand for GQA’s qualifications. This demand is rising due to the much-publicised skills gap. I believe the fenestration industry needs to be on a similar footing to that of other industries such as plumbing in which formal training and the attainment of qualifications are a given.

How important do you feel qualifications and training are?

Very important. They are better for the individual, better for the employer and better for the customer. Not only do they help to drive up standards in the fenestration industry generally, but they are contributing to improvements in health and safety – an important area. I believe they are helping to protect employees and save lives. Quite honestly, we’ve got to be mindful of how other industries attract young people through formalised training schemes and career paths carved out via qualifications. We’ve got to make the fenestration industry compete on this level in order to attract more young people into it. They need to be able to see the availability of a clear career path so that they can perceive the fenestration industry as an attractive career proposition. Youngsters also need to be made more aware of the sheer breadth of roles available in this industry too. Building Our Skills is doing well in promoting this. It’s the SME, regional retail sector that is really struggling to attract the right people to the fenestration industry. If companies in this sector offer the right training and qualifications they are more likely to win out.

Where do you see GQA heading in the future?

I believe we simply need a period of stability, especially after the turmoil caused by Covid. We just need to focus on getting as many fenestration industry people trained up as possible in order to keep driving up standards. I can see demand for qualifications only continuing to grow. I’m proud to be associated with GQA and to be part of helping to build a brighter and increasingly professionalised industry.

In the latest of our interviews as a part of our ‘20 years of GQA’ feature we spoke with Jon Bray, Managing Director of Learn2Print. We asked Jon to tell us all about his association with GQA Qualifications, when it began, what it means to him, and what he is involved with now.  His comments make great reading….

Name of Organisation

Learn2Print

Sector

Print

When did you first engage with GQA?

I have been engaged with GQA since 2012.  As a print centre all the qualifications for our industry were offered by City and Guilds, but a strategic review on their part had led them to a decision to disengage from the sector.  Proskills, as the Sector Skills Council for the Print Industry approached GQA Qualifications to ask if Print was a sector they would be willing to get involved in, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Tell us how you are involved with GQA in your day-to-day work and how the relationship has developed since the initial engagement.

The early discussions were based around helping us to continue as a regulated sector in terms of qualifications; little did I know the relationship would develop to the degree and mutually beneficial level it has.

We knew that the qualifications we had as a sector needed reviewing and in many cases re-writing, not least because of the growing influence of ‘digital’, which even at that time we could see was going to have a major impact and bring significant change to our industry.

GQA were proactive from day one, engaging with us and many of the other print sector training providers, as well as industry employers; quickly becoming a trusted partner and great supporters for what we wanted to achieve.

Learn2print were part of a group of Print Industry Training Providers who with GQA’s guidance, jointly reviewed and renewed the relevant qualifications we had and laid out a plan to develop new ones to support the changes our industry was starting to go through.

Tell us a little bit about the print industry then…

When people think about print, understandably their first thought is newspapers and magazines, brochures and flyers, and rightly they assume that the requirement for this media is diminishing.

But I run a training course where the starting point is to ask students to imagine going into a supermarket in a world where the print industry no longer existed.  What would you see?  Simply shelf after shelf of white packaging and no way of identifying what any of the products were.  It’s immediately enlightening to them. That’s the influence of print.  Of course, even with the usual branding, without print you wouldn’t be able to buy any goods – money is printed, your credit cards are printed, and so the list goes on.  In fact, print is the fifth largest industry in the world incredible as that might sound and has so many career opportunities for youngsters.

Tell us more about your relationship with GQA…

My first experience of GQA was to form a relationship with Sean Hayes, who, right from the outset has been a great supporter of ours and the whole print industry.  To have someone with his enthusiasm for what we are doing is worth its weight in gold, and everybody we deal with at GQA has the same approach – our EQA Andy, and all the team in the office as well. Their approach rubs off on our staff, and that in turn helps us to share the same enthusiasm with our learners.

“The whole team at GQA have a passion and enthusiasm for their work that rubs off on our staff as well, enabling us to motivate and inspire the students we teach”.

You mentioned careers in the industry…

Given the scale of the industry globally, and how intrinsically it is interwoven with technology, we think more than ever print as a career option  is appealing to youngsters, and getting this message out to schools is something we as a sector want to do more and more.  There are lots of career paths, and it is a good paying industry as well.

GQA has been a great help to us in this regard, standing with us at education fayres to help us spread the word about how youngsters can achieve qualifications that will support them throughout their careers and CPD programmes to support life-long learning.  They also support the industry by sponsoring the ‘student of the year award’ and this is greatly appreciated not only by ourselves but also all the other print training centres throughout the UK.

“Perhaps unlike in some other industries, people coming into print really want to learn and achieve the qualifications that will help them progress their careers and be the best they can”.

Tell us how the association with GQA has impacted on you personally.

Obviously, the main thing is that it has helped us as an organisation to progress and develop over the last decade; but I am convinced that working with GQA has also made that a significantly more enjoyable journey than it might have been, not just for me, but for all our staff and our students.

On a very personal level I was delighted recently to be able to see  my own son achieve his level 2 and level 3 qualifications in the industry.  I wasn’t involved directly in his learning and achievement of course, but as with any father, being able to see and celebrate his achievements, and his commitment to the industry that I am so passionate about was a great moment.

In one sentence tell us why you think GQA is important?

It’s been said by others who have done these interviews that GQA is a trusted and respected awarding body with a great team of people who support you in everything you want to do, and who work to the highest standards possible.  They want to do everything right. There is little I can say to add to that, and I fully endorse every word.

What do you think the future holds for Learn2Print and GQA?

Much more of the same hopefully, a constant programme of evolution, and the continuation of our journey.  It’s a journey that might also take us to other countries which would be very interesting.  We are already in discussions with potential partners in Australia and Dubai, so it will be good to see how that develops!

Qualifications in the print sector are in really great hands with GQA, and I see only more good things in the future.

As a part of our 20 years of GQA feature we talked to Chris Bonsall who now works with the FSE British Association. We asked Chris to tell us all about his association with GQA Qualifications, when it began, what it means to him, and what he is involved with now.  His comments make great reading…. 

Name of Organisation

FSE British Association (British Scouting Movement)

When did you first engage with GQA?

I have been engaged with GQA since it operated under its previous structure as GTL, which was in the early 1990’s so my association with them has been for nearly 30 years now.

Tell us how you are/were involved with GQA in your day-to-day work and how the relationship has developed since the initial engagement.

I worked for Auto Windscreens from June 1975 to October 2014. In August 1990 we opened the first ever training school in the industry purely for Windscreen fitters. We wanted a formal qualification for them and the NVQ fitted to a tee with my own thoughts and, crucially, Auto Windscreen’s fitting procedures.

Former Chairman of GTL Alan Murray was my contact, and my mentor on qualifications and so we worked closely on a new level 3 to raise standards even further.

When GQA was formed the relationship continued to grow with Mick Clayton and later Sean Hayes, and not forgetting the team in their office.

The whole team were, and continue to be there whenever you need support, guidance or just information

 The relationship between GQA and Auto Windscreens has always been very strong, open and honest.  By that I mean the support that GQA has given over the years has been nothing but positive and helpful making the assessment centre more effective in delivering qualifications.

When I retired from Auto Windscreens in 2014, I had more time to get involved with the FSE  3rd and 4^th Derbyshire Scout Group.

One of our long serving leaders (over 35 years) had the idea of a qualification in Scouting, two of the main reasons being: –

• To help with retention from scouts to rovers (senior scout), and on to becoming a leaders of scouts
• Secondly for someone holding the qualification it would prove to potential employers that the young person has a hunger for learning outside school. Most of the lessons learned from the qualification units are transferable to the workplace – H&S, risk assessments, planning and organisational skills, giving the scout a head start when it came to job applications.

So, I was asked to write a qualification for scouting and my first thoughts of course was GQA.  Sean and the team, and the service and support I had while working at Auto Windscreens made it an obvious choice, and sure enough the enthusiasm, backing and guidance from GQA has been invaluable.

Tell us how the association with GQA has impacted on your colleagues/ candidates/ organisation.

For me achieving an NVQ with GQA has real meaning as their rigorous quality assurance process and commitment to making sure it is done right and as it should be is second to none.

Knowing how professional, approachable and committed GQA are gives everybody confidence.

At Auto Windscreens when our customers, whether private or from large organisations saw that our fitting staff were trained and qualified to NVQ standards it gave them confidence in the service we were about to deliver

Today, in my role with the FSE, I can tell you that we are so impressed with the way GQA has and is supporting our new qualifications – the very first qualifications for Scouts.

In one sentence tell us why you think GQA is important?

GQA are a trusted and respected awarding body with a great team of people that work to the highest standards and are always looking to improve if possible.

What other words would you use to describe GQA?

Reliable, Open, Honest, Constructive, Challenging, Supportive – Always willing to discuss new ideas.

Most in the industry today are well aware of the high levels of training and certification that are now part of the landscape when it comes to the manufacture and installation of windows and doors. Long gone are the days when the industry worked to self-set standards.

Today’s industry is governed by stringent building regulations to which those manufacturing and installing windows and doors must adhere, and most companies are investing widely in their staff, ensuring they have the right skills to do their work to the highest standards.

For those carrying out key roles such as installation, there is the opportunity for them to be independently certified to demonstrate that they are qualified to carry out their role. The result is not only peace of mind for homeowners, but an on-going rise in standards in the industry, which benefits all parties.

Playing a key role in driving up these standards is GQA Qualifications, the fenestration industry’s leading awarding and qualifications writing body. 2021 sees the start of their 20^th year of operation.

The ethos of GQA is that working towards qualifications and encouraging learning opportunities are vitally important if the fenestration industry is to continue to improve and to set the highest standards, and to make it appealing as an industry to young people looking for a career after education to help address the skills gap that has been prevalent in the construction industry for so long.

GQA is a major advocate of vocational careers and qualifications for the industry, and in the 20 years since it began operating has grown the network of approved centres delivering its qualifications from an initial 15 to over 200, and now employs 21 staff in total from an initial starting point of just seven.

In the last 20 years GQA has issued a staggering 142,00 qualifications

It is a sign of the progress made by the industry, that at its outset, GQA offered just 11 qualifications. Today it offers 238 and over the past 20 years, they have issued a staggering 142,000 qualification certificates.

Commenting on the milestones achieved, Mick Clayton, Chief Executive Officer of GQA says:

“As we enter our 20th operational year, I am very proud of what GQA has achieved and how it has grown. It is clear that the appetite for learning has never been greater amongst the tradespeople in our industry and despite the challenges of the pandemic I see significant growth in this during 2021. For GQA, as a leading awarding body, it is something we are delighted to see, and it is fantastic that that desire for self-improvement is leading people to think more about formal achievement in the form of qualifications or taking accredited courses.”

“We are committed to seeing our industry hone the skills of its tradespeople so that homeowners and commercial clients can always be confident of receiving the best quality of workmanship and service, and to making our industry a genuine career choice for youngsters leaving the education sector”.

2021 marks the 20th year of operation of GQA Qualifications. During the past twenty years, the organisation has been humbled and honoured to find its influence growing amongst a broad range of key stakeholders and decision-makers. Today, the number of committees, initiatives and collaborations to which GQA has been welcomed has never been higher.

The links between GQA and Building Our Skills are firmly established with GQA’s Chief Executive Officer, Mick Clayton, being on the Board of this initiative to help make fenestration a career of choice. However, perhaps less well-known are some of the other organisations with which GQA is helping to shape future decision-making. For example, GQA Chairman, Mike Morris, is part of a Parliamentary Review Group, and GQA has featured in the ‘Parliamentary Review’ talking about the importance of qualifications. This is a guide to political and industry best practice in management is sent to over 500,000 leading business executives.

Mike Morris and Mick Clayton are representing GQA on The Leaders Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is chaired by Lord Blunkett. The Council brings together the influential industry figures from across the country.

In addition, GQA staff are to be found on the following committees and groups:

* The RISA Board. RISA is a UKAS accredited inspection body for the fenestration and construction industries.

* BEABF, a committee of the Awarding Bodies that work in construction

* The CAB Training Committee. CAB is the Council for Aluminium in Building.

* The GGF Health and Safety Committee and GGF Members meetings.

* The Steering Group for PAS 2030+A1 / PAS 2035+A1 – Retrofitting dwellings for improved energy efficiency.

* The official review of BSAu242 – Windscreen Repair Standards.

* The committee reviewing BS10125 – Vehicle Repair Standards.

* The Sector Advisory Group for Vehicle Repair and Automotive Glazing. This is a group set up to identify and advise the industries on competence solutions and approved CPD.

* The CITB Competence and Skills Group. This is a working party representing all CSCS card schemes to develop a competence framework, including a review of the CSCS card renewal process._­

GQA’s Chief Executive Officer, Mick Clayton says:

“It’s so gratifying that GQA staff are able to help and support so many industry committees. To have a seat at the table when the decisions are being taken that will mould the future of the industries in which we operate is a true honour. Having acquired PAAVQ-SET, the awarding body for the polymer, engineering, chemical, pharmaceutical and nuclear industries, we are also keen to build on the strong links that this organisation has in its sectors. Going forwards, we also intend to look for more opportunities for collaborative working in the areas of print and construction.”

GQA Qualifications are the awarding body working with Novus in a major nationwide offender rehabilitation training scheme.  The fenestration industry’s leading awarding and qualifications-writing body is working closely with Novus to deliver training programmes that raise the aspirations of offenders, increase their employability skills and opportunities to find sustainable employment, and help them to build positive futures for themselves, their families and communities.  For almost 30 years Novus has been helping men, women and children of all ages and abilities, in custodial and community settings across England and Wales, to take new directions.

Novus works in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), Youth Custody Service, HMPPS Wales, G4S, charities and employers to help individuals turn their lives around.

GQA is now working with Novus at 14 of its sites, and expects this number to rise over the coming months. The pandemic has greatly affected how training can be delivered, and both GQA and Novus have had to adapt swiftly to online methods and in-cell learning. So far, all participating learners have been working towards an NVQ Level 1 in Health & Safety. Before the pandemic, learners in two prisons had additionally been able to benefit from practical training resulting in an NVQ Level 1 in The Principles of Window & Door Installation. At the time of writing, it is anticipated that GQA approved centres will shortly be able to restart practical courses inside custodial settings. In addition to achieving NVQ qualifications, learners can also benefit from the fact that GQA is the sole issuer of CSCS cards for the fenestration industry. For ex-offenders to be able to leave prison with a CSCS card to present to site managers is an additional step on the road to employment.

Commenting on its relationship with GQA, Novus’s Awarding Organisations and Compliance Lead, Karen Rose says:

“One of the main attractions of working with GQA is its unique ability to provide a combination of qualifications plus CSCS cards. We are extremely pleased with the level of support GQA is providing, and look forward to working with the organisation to develop its involvement with more of our centres in prisons around the UK.”

Simon Smith, who heads up the support programme with Novus for GQA added:

“We’ve seen substantial uptake in training from learners at all 14 prison locations, and I’m pleased to be able to say that we anticipate this not just continuing but increasing quickly. It’s extremely gratifying to be involved in such a worthwhile initiative. I feel that not only are we making a difference for ex-offenders, but we are also really helping to address the industry’s skills shortages too. I’m proud that GQA can be part of this whole rehabilitation process.”