It is a reflection of the desperate shortage of skilled labour that plumbers, plasterers, bricklayers and carpenters are now recognised as essential to future UK growth. This is a philosophy that the Learning & Skills Council (LSC) has been promoting since its creation and it seems that, even though numbers of workers in the profession has increased dramatically over the past year to nearly two million there is still a chronic shortage. The situation is likely to be exacerbated by the construction of the fifth runway at Heathrow, which will soak up labour from all over Britain.