The British Institute of Kitchen Bedroom and Bathroom Installation (BiKBBI) has partnered with fittings manufacturer Blum UK to launch a new initiative focused on increasing the number of compliant installers.
Set to launch at the InstallerSHOW later on this month, the Funding the Future of Installation initiative will see both organisations working together to sponsor 50 new BiKBBI memberships for installation businesses that are not currently members.
According to BiKBBI, visitors to its stand at the event can simply have their visitor badge scanned in order to be considered for the programme.
BiKBBI – which was founded in 2006 – works to improve standards, compliance and education amongst the UK’s installation community. The organisation says that because of the worsening skills gap crisis, it has never been more important for the industry to have a network of approved and compliant installers.
Matthew Glanfield, Blum UK’s technical manager, said that the company was fully supportive of BiKBBI’s efforts to support and grow the installation sector.
He added: “Blum’s history demonstrates the importance we place in education and standards, and Funding the Future of Installation provides the perfect vehicle for us to make a real difference and support the need for professional, compliant and educated installers in a tangible way.”
BiKBBI’s CEO, Damian Walters, commented: “Funding the Future of Installation is a ground-breaking approach to growing and strengthening a compliant KBB installation workforce – the vital community of tradespeople that serve all areas of the industry.
“Never before has there been a scheme that enables those businesses reliant on the installation sector to directly impact the number of registered, professional and compliant installers operating in the KBB industry in this way, and to be doing so in partnership with such an established and well-respected brand as Blum UK is significant in our organisation’s history.”
In recent years, BiKBBI has been extremely vocal about the urgent need for the industry to work together to solve its major issues. At the organisation’s annual conference earlier this year, Walters called the lack of apprentice uptake “an absolute tragedy”, and called on the KBB sector as a whole to do more to help tackle the crisis.
