There’s a shortage of scaffolders. I can’t think why. It’s incredibly hard physical work, doubtless doesn’t pay enough and requires real skill to get right. Scaffolding was part of my dad’s and grandad’s business, so I did it for a while, rather badly. After a torrid few months, I slowly got strong enough to make a contribution. The first time I lifted a 21ft scaffold pole on my own was a proud day indeed. Now, I can’t even pull one off the back of a truck – this I know, because I’ve tried, being in the habit of talking to any scaffolders who can spare the time for a chat and enjoy scoffing at my weakness.
They’re a breed of their own and, alarmingly, a dying one. In March, the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation said the UK needed as many as 40,000 more scaffolders. Unless this shortfall is filled, we’re going to be putting up a lot of low-rise buildings.
As someone who went off to do something else with his life and has just pointed out what a tough line of work it is, I’m hardly well placed to speak up for the profession, but I’ll give it a bash. For starters, it has the considerable merit in this day and age of being a job that AI can’t do. The technogarchs may claim they can do everything from curing cancer to destroying humanity, but I’ve yet to hear one of them say their clever-dickery extends to erecting a massive Meccano set around a 10-storey housing development.
Also, it’s a chance to be part of a British success story, in that I reckon we do it better than anyone else. Wherever I go on my travels, I always think the scaffolding isn’t a patch on ours. In some places, you can barely see a decent right angle on the whole rig.
I was just about to say that if there were an international scaffolding championship, the UK would win hands down. However, it turns out that there is such a thing, called ScaffChamp, and we didn’t win it this year. A Lithuanian firm did, but they had home advantage, as it was held in Vilnius. Props, though, to AK Scaffolding, from Manchester, and the A-Team, an all-apprentice squad from Northern Ireland and Scotland, for flying Britain’s flag. I’m confident glory will be ours before long. Scaffolding’s coming home.
• Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist
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