· 500
square metre school to include classrooms, workshop
·
4-week
intensive course to focus on decorative concrete
·
Plans
announced ahead of appearance at Middle East Concrete in Dubai
10 November, Dubai – A brand new trainingfacility complete with
classrooms and a 500 square metre workshop will train hundreds of students how
to use decorative concrete in construction, after a significant increase in
demand has left the industry short of qualified craftsmen.
Matthew Burns, General Manager of Taj Concrete, the man behind the
school has 30 years of experience in the industry. Having spent much of the previous
decade in Afghanistan building hospitals, roads, and schools, he said he
expects to train 100 people and create jobs for them in the next six months.
“The market for decorative concrete is
huge at the moment. In less than 6 months I’ve had over 12,000 visits to my
website and I’m also getting calls from contractors because there are just
not enough people in the industry who understand how to use it,” he said.
“We’ve received so many enquiries that we’ve decided
to open a school to train young people. The school will have classrooms and a
workshop, and will combine lectures with hands-on training using the same
4-week intensive programme our new staff undertake.”
Burns said that many of the current crop of young
people that he trains are being sent by companies in Africa, but that the
potential is also there for people in the Middle East to tap into this thriving
industry at a time when regional demand is higher than it’s ever been.
“The industry was moving along quite steadily
about 8 years ago and there was a keen interest in it, which is why you see
it at the Atlantis Hotel and other places in Dubai. But then it stopped,
because people who were not qualified to use decorative concrete took on jobs
and made a mess of them, so decorative concrete became seen as much more of a
risk.”
In order to build on the momentum that is currently underway,
Burns will be among a team of experts to lead a free workshop at this year’s
Middle East Concrete exhibition at Dubai World Trade Centre from 23-26
November 2015. Among those set to join him at the workshop are international
experts from some of the big companies in the industry.
Those expected to make an appearance at the event include
Jaime
Villagomez of New Look International, Melanie Royals President and Creative
Director at Modello Designs, and Bent Mikkelsen
from Concrete Décor.
“We are
excited to be at Middle East Concrete this year and promise to put on a show
that will redefine what the industry currently thinks is possible to achieve
with concrete.”