By Ahmed Maani, Associate at OFR Consultants
Over the past decade our industry has watched the construction skills crisis intensify. We all know the statistics, and we all feel the pressure of too few qualified engineers and a dwindling pipeline of early-career talent. In specialist disciplines such as fire engineering, the shortage is even more acute.
National Careers Week shines the spotlight on the issue, and I fear that recruitment alone will not save us. If construction really wants to build resilience and capability, we must rethink how we attract and retain people, and crucially, how we invest in them. That belief sits at the heart of our approach at OFR Consultants and it is what has driven our transition to employee ownership this year.
Why we moved to employee ownership
Last autumn, OFR became an Employee-Ownership Trust (EOT) business, meaning our colleagues now collectively own a controlling stake in the company. At the same time, we retain our Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) share options, so colleagues benefit individually too. For us, the move was not simply a cultural gesture, but a strategic response to structural shortages that threaten our sector.
Competent fire engineering requires years of training, CPD, chartership and research. We cannot outsource that responsibility; we must build it. And that means giving people agency, security and genuine ownership in where the business goes and how we grow future capability.
Evidence it works
In the last 12 months alone, seven OFR engineers have become chartered. Roughly a fifth of our colleagues now hold professional chartership, a remarkable figure in an industry where qualification pathways are long and demanding. That pipeline exists because we have invested in it from the outset: through partnerships with universities, research activity, and structured career development. The EOT now allows us to double down on that approach, directing investment where it matters most – into people.
Apprenticeships: building capability from the ground up
The shortage does not begin at mid-career level. It begins far earlier. Which is why apprenticeships are a core part of our skills strategy. We currently have five apprentices who joined us through our collaboration with the University of Central Lancashire this September. Their programme is intentionally blended with two weeks at university combined with work-based learning inside OFR teams, building both academic understanding and applied competence simultaneously.
This requires significant support internally, but that support is precisely what strengthens the business and the industry as a whole. Apprentices learn faster, engineers mentor more consciously, and knowledge circulates rather than sitting with a single individual. And crucially, under the EOT, apprentices have an actual voice in how the business develops. Ownership encourages them to stay long enough to qualify, progress and ultimately become fire engineers working towards chartership.
Training as strategic advantage
Continual development has always been a differentiator for OFR. But the EOT gives us the ability to protect that investment and direct it collaboratively. Instead of responding to short-term labour shortages, we are building a long-term capability base that grows with the business. In a tight, highly competitive talent market, offering conventional benefits simply isn’t enough; ownership creates stability, loyalty and shared purpose.
If construction wants to solve the skills crisis, we must look beyond recruitment and take responsibility for developing the people who will deliver our future infrastructure. Employee empowerment cannot be seen as a cultural luxury; it needs to be recognised as a strategic necessity.
More organisations should consider ownership models, apprenticeships and structured progression not as HR initiatives, but as sector-wide solutions. If we fail to invest in people, the labour gap will widen. If we empower them – genuinely empower them – we will build capability, retain experience, and ensure that talent stays inside our industry rather than exiting it.
Employee ownership is one practical way to move in that direction. It strengthens independence, fosters commitment, and ensures that when the business succeeds, everyone succeeds. This national Careers Week is a time to focus on that – especially in a sector wrestling with severe skills shortages. That’s no just smart business, it is a responsibility we all bear.
Ahmed Maani is an Associate at OFR Consultants, an award-winning fire-engineering practice delivering projects across the UK and internationally.
With more than a decade of experience in fire engineering, he began his career at Arup before joining OFR in 2022. His work spans a wide range of projects, with particular focus on community and social infrastructure, residential developments, and existing buildings.
Ahmed holds a Master’s degree in Structural and Fire Safety Engineering from the University of Edinburgh and a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Al-Najah University in Palestine. A Chartered Engineer, he combines strong technical expertise with a clear, considered approach, focused on developing talent and fostering innovation in fire safety.
Find out more: https://ofrconsultants.com/