Building work has started on a £9m training centre to equip the tens of thousands of new construction workers needed in the region over the next decade with the right skills.
City of Bristol College’s new Advanced Construction Skills Centre at its South Bristol Skills Academy is designed to meet the sector skill requirements as new generations of building workers enter the trade. 
An estimated 82,500 construction jobs will be created by 2036 in the sector in the West of England. While many of the skills needed will be in traditional trades such as bricklaying, plastering and carpentry, current training facilities cannot meet demand.
The new centre will not only meet the sector’s skills needs but widen participation and give access to state-of-the-art construction facilities.
It will deliver higher apprenticeships alongside construction courses for trades in wood, brick and plaster for young people as well as qualifications for professionals already working in the field.
Provision at the centre will also be made for more traditional training routes to service the large number of building firms and small traders located in South Bristol. 
A turf cutting ceremony was held at the site to formally mark the start of construction work on the major project by South Bristol-based Midas Construction.
The scheme includes a new 2,800 sq m construction centre, alongside refurbishment of an existing 750 sq m building, a construction yard as well as parking and cycle spaces.
The centre is due to welcome its first students in September next year.
Of the total project £9m cost, £6m is coming from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Local Growth Fund, administered by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA).
City of Bristol College principal and chief executive Andy Forbes said: “The development of our new Advanced Construction Skills Centre is a start of a new exciting phase for our construction curriculum.
“These state-of-the-art facilities will provide an industry-standard training environment to students and apprentices of all ages, supporting the anticipated growth in the construction sector employment opportunities.
“As highlighted in our recent Ofsted inspection, our students and apprentices ‘are ambitious and well-motivated to learn. They recognise how the skills and knowledge they are gaining will help them in the future’. 
“The new centre will support us in making our students even more job-ready and ambitious in their career related goals.”
The new centre is being supported by CITB Partnerships, the construction industry’s training organisation.
Its manager for the South and South West Catherine Bullough said: “We’re delighted to have joined local construction employers on the steering group, working together to help make sure the new skills centre will meet the future needs of the industry in the South West.”
Some 180 new apprenticeships at Level 3 and above will be introduced in the centre’s first year, providing a sustainable pipeline for higher apprenticeships for the future to create additional training opportunities for local communities, supporting their wellbeing and the growth of the local economy.
Midas Group chairman Steve Hindley said: “Supporting emerging talent to build on their knowledge and expertise will have a longstanding impact for the future of our industry and we are pleased to be a part of that.”
Midas, one of the UK’s largest independent construction and property services groups, works on projects across a range of sectors including education, residential and commercial developments.
It secured the Advanced Construction Skills Centre contract through the South West Construction Framework (SCF) – a £5.25bn framework delivering public sector projects over the next four years.
Since being appointed to SCF in 2015 Midas has won 30 projects with a total value of more than £151m.
