Construction and infrastructure company Morgan Sindall has started work on the £8 million Wirral Met College Campus in Birkenhead. This is the first building on Peel Group’s Wirral Waters development that will specialise in enterprise and construction and transform 500 acres of Birkenhead Dockland.
Whilst constructing the college, Morgan Sindall will provide learning opportunities to existing Wirral Met construction students, giving them an insight into all aspects of a major construction project.
The Morgan Sindall team will also assist the college on site by offering health and safety tuition, allowing the students to gain first-hand experience on a live project.
Sue Higginson, Principal of Wirral Met College with Morgan Sindall team.
As well as training the future workforce that will create the transformational Wirral Waters, the campus will also house the college’s Employer Services team, which works work with hundreds of employers, so it will be a centre of excellence for developing employer-led activity in all sectors. This is particularly appropriate, given the site is within one of the UK’s Enterprise Zones, developed to attract more business into the area.
The project is due for completion in September 2015 and will be the first key landmark on Wirral Waters – a 30-year project by Peel Group to transform the Birkenhead dockland, and one half of the Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone.
The Morgan Sindall team is being led by area director Barry Roberts who is Wirral born and bred and still resides there.
Barry said: “We are proud to be working with Peel Group on this fantastic new campus for Wirral Met College at Wirral Waters. This is my home town and the college has enhanced the prospects of Wirralians for generations and it is gratifying to help people in the region continue their work. We hope to leave a long term legacy by introducing local economic benefits and opportunities for local people at the college.
“That the new campus will become the first new building on what is the UK’s biggest regeneration project at Wirral Waters makes it even more important to me personally and Morgan Sindall as a company.”
Richard Mawdsley, project director at Peel, said: “We’re delighted to be working with an experienced contractor with local Wirral connections. This is the first of a number of building projects we are progressing under the Wirral Waters umbrella.
“This project aligns with our skills agenda, to create a place with local jobs for local people and it is great to see Morgan Sindall working with the college whilst on site to benefit its students.”
Mawdsley added: “The Wirral project is funded collaboratively with the financial support of the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA),the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), Wirral and Peel.”
We have been focused on site preparation and infrastructure on some key sites within Wirral Waters – including the Wirral College site on Tower Road – all very necessary to enable project delivery to take place.”
Sue Higginson, Principal of Wirral Met said: “This project will create life changing opportunities for thousands of people, as we establish a Centre of Excellence for Enterprise and the Built Environment. We will provide a pipeline of skills for employers who will be investing in Wirral by locating into the new Enterprise Zone.
“As the first project to start Wirral Waters, we are delighted that our strong, strategic partnership with Peel will unlock the potential for developing the area that holds the promise of thousands of jobs. We also work closely with the Local Authority and the Local Enterprise Partnership for Liverpool City Region and we have very much appreciated their support with our project.”
Phil Davies, Leader of Wirral Council, said “The local authority and Wirral Met have developed a strategic partnership to focus on ensuring that we support the education and skills agenda that is relevant to our local economy. Wirral Waters Campus is a significant investment that will ensure our local people get the opportunity to gain the skills that they will need to be considered for the many jobs created, as Wirral Waters develops.”
