Openreach Start Free 5 Day UK Street Works Training Courses

Openreach (BT) has opened a free five-day skills course in roadworks, signing, lighting, and guarding to Jobseekers in Bolton (more areas to follow). The course has been launched in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and is linked to the company’s commitment under their Project Gigabit broadband roll-out contracts.

In case anybody has forgotten. Openreach recently secured a bunch of the government’s Type C (Cross-Regional) Project Gigabit contracts (here and here). The contracts will see the operator expand their FTTP broadband network across over 220,000 “hard-to-reach” rural premises in parts Lancashire, North Wiltshire, South Gloucestershire, West and Mid Surrey, Staffordshire, West Berkshire, Hertfordshire, and Worcestershire, as well as parts of Devon, Somerset, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Wales, Essex, and North-East England.

As part of the above, Openreach also made a commitment to economic equality, job creation, and skills development through the same broadband scheme. The new five-day training program, run in collaboration with the DWP, forms part of that and is thus intended to provide practical, hands-on learning and industry-recognised accreditations to help participants enter the workforce.

While mainly classroom-based, it focuses on real-world street works and provides practical, hands-on learning and industry-recognised accreditations to help participants enter the workforce.

Openreach’s Director of Learning and Development, Anna Phipps, said:

“We believe in creating real opportunities for people to develop new skills and improve their employability. This initiative gives jobseekers the qualifications they need to step into careers in roadworks, construction, and utilities—sectors that are vital to keeping the country connected.”

Ian Ogden, Employer Lead for the DWP in Greater Manchester, added:

“We’re committed to working with employers to provide jobseekers with real, practical opportunities. This course equips people with industry knowledge, valuable certifications, and the confidence to move towards a future career in infrastructure and utilities.”

Jobseekers in Bolton are the first to benefit, but there are said to be “plans to expand the initiative if successful“. The initial plans could see additional courses being opened in Exeter, Livingston (Scotland) and Newport (Wales), with delegates invited to take part by their local DWP team. Mind you it tends to take a lot longer than 5 days to fully train up a new telecoms engineer.