The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has elected its new National President.

Gary Lewis was officially appointed to the position at a National AGM and Conference in Newport on Saturday, 10 September.

In addition, Arthur McArdle was elected as the FMB's new National Vice-President and Dave Bentley, the former FMB National President, will serve as the Immediate Past President.

In his new role, Mr Lewis has pledged to focus on boosting the quality and quantity of apprenticeships for small to medium sized construction businesses.

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He said: "I've always been extremely passionate about passing on my knowledge to the next generation and ensuring that we have enough skilled workers in the construction sector. My own firm is one of the many thousands of SMEs that provides broad-skilled apprenticeships.

"Indeed, two-thirds of all construction apprentices are trained by SME firms like mine. FMB members are already playing a pivotal role in improving the quality of apprenticeships through the development of two new Trailblazer standards in bricklaying and plastering.

"However, root and branch changes to apprenticeship policy are on the horizon with the implementation of the new Government Apprenticeship Levy and the corresponding reforms to the CITB levy.

"These fundamental changes could make or break the quality and quantity of apprenticeship training and therefore it's vital that the FMB ensures that the new system works for smaller firms. If it doesn't, we could risk exacerbating the construction skills crisis."

(LM/MH)