The Countdown to #OpenDoors26 is well and truly underway, and we are now encouraging organisations across the supply chain to register the events you are planning to offer from Monday 23 ‐ Saturday 28 March. Our Open Doors Partners have already listed an exciting range of events, including Canary Wharf Group’s Wood Wharf in London, the Sunbelt Rentals Chadderton Service Centre near Oldham, CITB’s National Construction College Scotland, and Willmott Dixon’s Glyn-coch Primary School in Wales. Everyone can play their part in inspiring careers in construction by opening up their sites, offices, manufacturing facilities and training centres across the UK, and we can’t wait to see what you all have planned!
Construction needs to recruit around 50,000 extra workers a year and Open Doors, delivered by Build UK, is a unique opportunity for young people and those looking for a change of career to go behind the scenes and see just what our industry has to offer. With 88% of visitors in 2025 stating that they were more likely to consider a career in construction after their visit, we are working with our network of Open Doors Partners to promote events to as many potential visitors as possible and recently hosted a webinar for careers advisers across the UK.
Schools and colleges usually require advance notice to organise visits, which is why we need events registered as soon as possible. Build UK members can register events free of charge and there is an early‐bird discount available to non‐members until 30 November. Schools and colleges may contact you to register their interest in events before booking opens in January, and we have produced a Visit Brief and Risk Assessment in case they need help securing the relevant permissions.
Your October Action Plan
Open Doors 2025 saw more than 260 events welcome a record 7,000 visitors as the industry came together to showcase careers in construction. For the first time, two-thirds of events were fully booked and we will be sharing a monthly action plan for Open Doors 2026 to help even more of you become part of #TeamFullyBooked!
- Register new events for 2026 using our updated Website User Guide which will take you through the process step-by-step.
- Update any events from 2025 that you will be running again in 2026 – any previous events which have not been activated will be removed on Monday 3 November.
- Download any previous booking information from 2025 if required – all previous bookings will be deleted on Monday 3 November.
- Start promoting your events to local schools and colleges using our Invitation Template.
- Plan for enquiries from schools and colleges which may get in touch before booking opens in January to register their interest in attending your events.
Don’t forget to make sure you are following us on Facebook, Instagram and X, and if you need any help with identifying or registering events, please email us.
New Partners
We are delighted to announce two new Community Partners for Open Doors 2026, which will help us to promote events to even more potential visitors. The Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland includes responsibility for employment-related matters, including its careers service, whilst Prospects works at the heart of Higher Education to guide students towards the right jobs.
The First Step
Open Doors is featured in another edition of the ‘My Route into Construction’ series published by our Media Partner, Building Magazine. Aiysha Alli explains how the contacts she made at an Open Doors event hosted by Berkeley Group were the first step to securing work experience, which led to an internship with Mace. If you have an Open Doors success story, please email us.
Careers Weeks
If you are looking for opportunities to promote careers in construction, check out Green Careers Week from 3 – 8 November, supported by The Careers & Enterprise Company, and Scottish Careers Week from 10 – 14 November, coordinated by Skills Development Scotland. Both have a toolkit you can download to get involved.
Get into Construction
Build UK’s Get into Construction video is available to help promote careers in the industry, and you may wish to include a link to it when inviting schools and colleges to your Open Doors events to show why they should get involved with their students. Additional videos and images are also available in our Open Doors Gallery.
