Developers launch skills campus at £400m development

A skills centre at CEG’s £400m Kirkstall Forge development in Leeds, where Wates Construction is building a seven-storey office development, has been launched.

Launched in partnership with Leeds City Council, the Forging Futures Campus has been jointly funded by CEG and Wates Giving, a programme set up by the Wates Family that makes more than 250 grants worth around £1m a year to charities and community groups.

Designed to boost employment prospects for the people of Leeds, the skills centre will offer vocational training for jobseekers, including opportunities for around 12 apprentices as part of the Kirkstall Forge project team, 46 site visits and 25 work experience placements.

This will include the delivery of Wates’ Building Futures programme in May, an intensive training programme that gives jobseekers the opportunity to experience a variety of hands-on trades and CV workshops.

Work experience projects will also be carried out through the programme, the first of which has seen one group of students from Leeds College of Building design, project manage and build a new garage on site.

Opportunities for suppliers in Leeds will also include Social Enterprises (SE), with which Wates has committed to spending approximately £18,000. Of this target, Wates has so far spent £11,000 with SEs, including Shine, a local catering service, which is dedicated to up-skilling women from local prisons in readiness for the world of work.

Wates Construction, CEG, Leeds College of Building and Leeds City Council will deliver the Forging Future Campus programme in association with key stakeholders, including The Skill Mill, Pierre Angulaire and BARCA (Bramley and Rodley Community Association) amongst others.

Jon Kenny, development director at CEG, said: “CEG is delighted to deliver this innovative vocational training programme which will involve teenagers, students, and local people and provide the opportunity to work alongside developers, builders, architects and engineers, leading to apprenticeship opportunities. Ultimately we will help to train Leeds’ future architects, bricklayers, civil engineers, joiners, plumbers and electricians through site visits, curriculum projects, hands-on work experience and mentoring support. Forging Futures Campus will showcase a pool of talent in action for businesses to be able to visit, monitor and select their apprentices from.”

Paul Dodsworth, business unit director of Wates Construction Yorkshire and North East, said:

“Our pioneering skills initiative at Kirkstall Forge will give individuals from all walks of life a career kick start and enable young people to gather an insight into the inner workings of a construction site, ensuring a fresh stream of talent into the sector. This is our chance to ensure the work being carried out at Kirkstall Forge brings about a wider benefit for Leeds’ community and that CEG’s investment into the area revives local opportunity as regeneration work advances in Kirkstall.”

Wates started building work at CEG’s £400m regeneration scheme in March 2016. The scheme comprises the creation of a seven-storey 110,000 sq ft. Grade A office development, the first building to be constructed at the 57 acre site.

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