Across the country, the construction industry is one of the most important contributors to our economy – and Liverpool is certainly no different. The city is proving ever-more attractive to people eager to take advantage of its affordable living options and modern facilities, which has resulted in a significant increase in residential and commercial property developments. This, in addition to the £250 million investment from Liverpool City Council towards improving transport links and infrastructure, means that the city is a hotbed of activity.
Liverpool Waters is a prime example of this. The £5 billion regeneration scheme which is transforming the city’s northern docks, is seeing the creation of 9,000 homes, 315,000 sq.m of business space, a Cruise Liner Terminal, an Isle of Man Ferry Terminal and an accompanying hotel, to name just a few of its projects. All of this means that the need for skilled construction workers in Liverpool is greater than ever.
To meet this demand, The City of Liverpool College has opened a ground breaking new ‘Construction Hub’ on the currently disused Collingwood Dock at Liverpool Waters. The Hub has been created to help bridge the gap between training and employment in the construction industry, providing the opportunity for college students to receive practical, work ready site-specific training in a real construction site environment.
It is the latest project to be launched as part of the partnership between Liverpool Waters and The City of Liverpool College, which last year saw the college become Liverpool Waters’ chosen apprenticeship provider, putting its learners at the very heart of one of Europe’s largest regeneration and development schemes.
The project – the first of its kind in Liverpool – is funded by the Government’s Construction Skills Fund as part of its National Retraining Scheme. The Construction Skills Fund, administered on behalf of Department for Education by CITB, awarded The City of Liverpool College £500,000 through a competitive process, to bring the hub to Liverpool Waters.
By working together, The City of Liverpool College and Liverpool Waters are catering to the needs of local construction projects, providing unemployed adults and young people not in education or training (NEET) with work ready skills to enter jobs within Liverpool’s growing construction industry.
As well as those not already in employment, the Hub is open to anyone who is looking for a career change and is interested in moving into the world of construction. The Hub also provides opportunities to promote construction as a career to those currently under represented in the sector, such as females and those with disabilities.
The Hub facility consists of three separate areas, two of which will be used for teaching space, with the third used for welfare and an office space. The Hub provides an excellent opportunity for learners to receive practical, site-specific training in a controlled environment, leading to work-ready skills to meet the needs of employers in Liverpool City Region.
Having this construction hub on Collingwood Dock means that The City of Liverpool College’s facility will be sitting amongst some of the city region’s largest and most ambitious construction projects, each of which will require a talented and eager workforce. The Hub will also be instrumental in supporting local supply chains, helping to make connections between large organisations and smaller contractors utilising the site.
The Hub’s close proximity to The City of Liverpool College’s wider construction and engineering offer at its state-of-the-art campus at Vauxhall Road, provides employers and learners alike with a broad range of construction apprenticeships, Higher National Certificates (HNC) and Higher National Diplomas (HND) programmes and opportunities for AM2 electrical and ACS Gas Accreditation.
The City of Liverpool College is constantly finding new ways of working with Liverpool Waters, to ensure their shared objective of training and developing the skills of the workforce of tomorrow is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, truly helping to build the workforce of the future.
If you want to find out more about how The City of Liverpool College could help make your business more productive, contact the team at asktheteam@liv-coll.ac.uk.
