Hercules plc (LON:HERC) CEO Brusk Korkmaz and CFO Paul Wheatcroft caught up with DirectorsTalk to discuss the expansion and impact of its training division, Hercules Academy.
Q1: Bruce, what is the Hercules Academy, and why was it launched?
A1: Our Hercules Academy is a training centre established by Hercules plc in February 2024 to address the UK construction and infrastructure skills shortage.
It provides accredited courses to upskill, reskill and train workers for major infrastructure projects across the country.
It is based in Nuneaton, West Midlands, strategically positioned near to Birmingham and Coventry, which is close to major projects like HS2.
Q2: Why did you launch the Hercules Academy?
A2: We noticed an opportunity to train workers for some of our existing clients and also saw an opportunity to expand our revenue base with our new clients.
One of our big advantages in Hercules is that we are already working for the big infrastructure clients and construction projects in the country. So, we can seek to place trainees and workers into this position.
We are just not a training company, we are also an employer as well, so it really suits our strategy.
Q3: How many people have you trained at the Academy so far?
A3: So far, the Academy exceeded its first-year target of 400 trainees by training 1,100 students by February 2025, it is now on track to train 2,000 workers in 2025.
Courses include health and safety, NVQs, plant and machinery training, specialist training, utility detection, working at height, overhead power line awareness, highways, supervisory courses, and bespoke industry courses also.
All qualifications are accredited by CITB, which is the Construction Industry Training Board.
Q4: How is the Academy helping with the UK skills gap?
A4: The Construction Industry Training Board forecasts an additional 225,000 workers are needed by 2027 and the Academy is helping tackle this issue by creating a pipeline of skilled workers for the UK’s infrastructure projects.
In total, there has been £725 billion to infrastructure projects in the UK over the last decade but the sector desperately needs the right workers.
Q5: Has the Academy expanded its initiatives?
A5: Yes, and it now runs training programmes in prisons, starting with HMP Holme House to help reintegrate individuals into the workforce. It’s also launched a Women into Construction programme, and it benefits from the Hercules acquisition earlier this year of Quality Transport Training, or QTT, increasing the capacity and our course offerings.
Q6: Bruce, what’s the outlook for the Academy?
A6: The Hercules Academy is going from strength to strength and our acquisition of QTT means we are one of the nation’s leading private training provider in the infrastructure and construction sector.
So, it’s looking really, really positive, and especially with the skills shortage in the UK as well. We are well placed in the industry to upskill and cross-skill our workforce and also help our clients as well to train their workforce also.
