For more information contact:

Emma Crowe
Nabil Hanafi
London Communications Agency
Middlesex House
34-42 Cleveland Street
London
W1T 4JE

t: 020 7612 8480
f: 020 7612 8481
3 March 2008 - Back

On-site centre to provide local people with training skills and employment opportunitiesOn-site centre to provide local people with training skills and employment opportunities

  • Planning application approved for flagship centre of excellence to provide high quality construction training and enhance long term employment
  • The centre could open by November 2008 and will run NVQ courses, customised and specialist training
  • Developers working with ConstructionSkills to obtain National Skills Academy status
  • A unique training model, which will provide work placements and employment opportunities on-site with 4 partner contractors (Carillion, HBG, Kier and Nuttalls) and their supply chain.


One of the first buildings to be erected at King’s Cross Central will be a flagship Construction Training Centre (CTC) designed by David Morley Architects, which will offer local people training, professional qualifications and employment opportunities on site.

At over 1,450 sqm and costing just over £2 million, the CTC will be more than double the size required in the Section 106 agreement with the London Borough of Camden when King’s Cross Central was granted outline planning permission in December 2006.

The CTC comes as one of the commitments developer Argent, with landowners London and Continental Railways and DHL-Exel, has made to ensure local communities benefit from the development at King’s Cross, which has already started on site.

All four construction partners at King’s Cross (Carillion, HBG, Kier and Nuttalls) have signed up to a delivery model which will provide work placements and employment opportunities within their supply chains. A range of options will be open to local residents, including construction apprenticeships, specialist training and the jobs brokerage already in place through “King’s Cross Working.”

The Learning and Skills Council have confirmed that funding will be made available from next year for 100 NVQ Apprenticeships, to be delivered at King’s Cross through Carillion’s national training contract. Argent and its partners are also working with Construction Skills to achieve National Skills Academy for Construction status.

Robert Evans, Director of Argent, said;

"The new training centre - more than double the size of that required in our agreement with Camden - will help local people find and sustain employment within the construction industries. It will also help meet the needs of contractors for a suitably trained and experienced workforce."

"We want to promote the construction industry, changing the sometimes negative perceptions of the sector as providing non-progressive, low level employment. This flagship centre will demonstrate to those entering the sector the value the industry does place upon them, creating the right environment to support them and see them succeed."

For more information contact Lara Thornton or Lara Correia, London Communications Agency, on 020 7612 8480.