The UK sector which needs 105,000 workers a year to 2050
Key Points
- The heritage sector needs 105,000 additional workers a year to 2050
- One in six heritage construction firms are turning down work
- 76% of firms cannot find workers with relevant skills
- Only around 10% of heritage construction workers are under 25
- England has just four stonemasonry training providers
Britain’s heritage sector needs an additional 105,000 workers every year between now and 2050, with one in six firms already turning down work because of skills shortages, MPs have heard.
The figures were given by Emma Squire, Co-Chief Executive of Historic England, in evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, whose report on protecting built heritage was published on Monday (13 July).
Squire told MPs that 76% of heritage construction organisations cannot find people with relevant skills when recruiting.
One of the biggest issues is an ageing workforce. Around 20% of the construction workforce is over 55 and likely to retire by 2030, according to National Trust evidence, while 49% of young people have never considered a career in the building trades.
Ben Cowell, Director General of Historic Houses, said only around 10% of those in heritage construction and craft roles were under 25, and Historic England’s policy director Ian Morrison said it was “very rare” to find anyone under 35 in heritage construction businesses.
Skills including stonemasonry, heritage roofing, thatching, stained-glass conservation and specialist timber work are in severe shortage, with the Heritage Crafts Red List classing trades such as bell founding and slate working as endangered.
Stone Federation Great Britain told the inquiry that just four training providers exist in England, creating cost barriers and long travel distances for young people entering the trade.
The committee recommends the government create protected training pathways for endangered crafts and establish a “heritage skills hub” offering careers advice, with progress reported back to MPs within 24 months.
It also calls for multi-employer apprenticeship schemes allowing small heritage firms to pool apprentices and share costs.
MPs highlighted a training programme run by the Hopwood Foundation with HM Prison Service at HMP Thorn Cross, which teaches traditional building skills to prisoners, and recommend expanding similar schemes across prisons and further education.
The report also urges a review of the Growth and Skills Levy, which replaced the Apprenticeship Levy in April 2026, within 12 months, after witnesses described the previous system as “cumbersome” because it funded training but not wages, pricing out micro-businesses.
Heritage Minister Baroness Twycross accepted improvements were needed, telling MPs: “If you do not have the skills to adapt or refurbish heritage buildings, you can make the situation worse than it was to start with.”
