100 jobs created as work gathers pace at £162m retail and leisure park
One hundred jobs have been created so far in the second phase of the £162m development at Thorpe Park in Leeds.
The jobs have been created so far through the main contractor GMI Construction and its supply chain as it progresses on site. Thirty per cent of the jobs have been taken up by Leeds residents, and 10 apprenticeships have also been created.
Development partners Scarborough International Properties and Legal & General Capital have pledged to support and promote local employment and skill opportunities as part of a partnership with Leeds City Council and its Employment & Skills Service.
Thorpe Park Leeds is already a well-established 800,000 sq ft business park with over 60 occupiers including IBM, National Grid, Atkins and United Utilities.
Delivery of phase two is now underway to provide 1.35 million sq ft of mixed accommodation which includes a new 300,000 sq ft shopping and leisure park and the first phase of 940,000 sq ft of offices. The development also includes 300 homes by Redrow and a 113-acre public park with sports facilities.
Simon Marshall, joint chief executive at Scarborough International Properties, said: “We are delighted to have created 100 local jobs through the development of phase two at Thorpe Park Leeds. This is the tremendous result of our collaboration with Leeds City Council, with which we have a dedicated delivery team working to maximise local employment and education at every opportunity.
“This extends to a local schools’ engagement programme and initiatives working with partners such as Ahead Partnership to broaden student perceptions of the construction industry. To date 1,335 pupils have been involved in a range of careers events, workshops and curriculum challenges that we have hosted.
“Local engagement will remain extremely important to the partnership as we work over the next six years to deliver phase two at Thorpe Park Leeds. We are confident that when the project is complete and operational over 13,000 new jobs will have been created.”
Phase two also includes delivery of the first section of the ‘East Leeds Orbital Road’, a key piece of infrastructure connecting north and east Leeds to Junction 46 of the M1. This road will unlock land for the construction of up to 7,000 new homes in the East Leeds area, land that is either already allocated in the Local Plan or which is brownfield.
