Samuel Asiamah, director of Altar Create CIC, on how the social enterprise is helping people facing barriers to employment gain construction skills

Samuel Asiamah (with hard hat) is the director of Altar Create CIC

Altar Create CIC was born from a simple but powerful belief; construction is not just about bricks and mortar, it is about people, opportunity and community.

I’ve spent over a decade working in the construction industry, moving through site management and project leadership roles across London. Along that journey, I saw first-hand both the scale of opportunity the industry offers and the number of people quietly excluded from it.

At the same time, the sector faces a growing skills shortage, with employers struggling to recruit and retain workers. These two realities felt deeply connected. Altar Create CIC exists to bridge that gap.

We are a workforce development social enterprise supporting people who face barriers to entering and progressing within the built environment. This includes young people not in education or employment, women, people with lived experience of the justice system, neuro-divergent individuals, and local residents who have the motivation to work but lack access to the right pathways.

Our approach is rooted in equity, not just access. We provide tailored pre-employment support, skills awareness, employer engagement, and wellbeing-informed guidance all free at the point of access. We believe that removing financial and systemic barriers before they exclude people is essential if we want fairer outcomes.

Altar Create CIC works closely with employers, training providers, community organisations, and local partners to create realistic routes into work. This includes helping people understand the construction job market, supporting them through qualifications and site readiness, and staying alongside them during early employment to improve confidence, retention and wellbeing.

While we are still early in our journey, we are already seeing strong interest from community partners, employers, and individuals who want to be part of a more inclusive construction industry. If you’re delivering projects in London and want social value that feels meaningful rather than performative, get in touch; this is the work we care deeply about. We are building programmes carefully and ethically, ensuring safeguarding, lived experience, and dignity remain at the centre of everything we do.

Looking ahead, our ambition is to grow into a community-rooted training and employability hub in Enfield, supporting hundreds and eventually thousands of people each year to access meaningful, sustainable careers, as well as strengthening the local workforce. Not just filling vacancies, but building futures.

Altar Create CIC is about restoring belief in people, in potential, and in the idea that industries can grow without leaving communities behind.

For more information about Altar Create CIC and to get in touch:
Email [email protected]
Visit altarconstruction.co.uk

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