The contractor appointed to build a £48m hotel on Gateshead Quayside has reiterated its commitment to sourcing local labour and engaging with schools.
The construction firm Russell WHBO has been awarded the contract to build the 344-bedroom Novotel and Ibis hotel in the Baltic Quarter by property developer Ask: PATRIZIA. The hotel forms part of major regeneration works on the Baltic Quarter including The Sage Arena, conference and exhibition centre.
The announcement was met with appreciation by Dunston councillor Brenda Clelland who promoted the move on her Facebook page. Coun Clelland, chair of the housing, environment and healthy communities overview and scrutiny committee, also wants the firm to ensure it uses as many local resources as possible and encourages people from varied backgrounds to get involved in the project.
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Coun Clelland said: "I am keen to hold their feet to the fire about getting young people, particularly women, into construction. It was quite a big part of the bid.
"I am really hoping that they really do mean it and really will be working with our schools, colleges, apprentices, young people, especially women to get involved and deliver this."
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that women make up 15% of the construction workforce. The Women's Engineering Society claims women make up 14.5% of all engineers in the UK.
John Millward, Russell WBHO Construction Director, said: “We are delighted to be appointed to the new hotel project for Gateshead Quayside and are pleased to hear that our responsible approach and strong core values were among the reasons for our appointment.
“As with all our projects, we will be working closely with the client and the local authority to ensure the project benefits the local community during the build, both economically and through employment, training and engagement opportunities.
“We will work with and support our supply chain partners to encourage training opportunities wherever possible throughout the build. We will also assign some of the Building Students on our professional apprenticeship programme to the project, so our future project managers, quantity surveyors and engineers can gain valuable experience of working on a major £48m build.
“And we will roll out our long-standing and successful community engagement programme to provide real and relatable role models for school visits and careers events as part of our commitment to encouraging young people into the industry. Within this we have a special focus on engaging with young women and young people from diverse backgrounds, and we will work with the local authority to identify which schools and colleges would most benefit from being involved with our programme.”
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