Member Article

Durham businesses work together on construction of multimillion pound Consett Academy

Several Durham businesses are working on the construction of Consett Academy, at the town’s Belle Vue site.

To date, contracts worth in excess of £5.7m have been awarded to County Durham firms as part of the overall project, creating jobs and apprenticeship opportunities.

Cemex, which has a site in Consett, will supply around 14k tonnes of concrete for the project.

Contracts have been awarded to other County Durham companies for services and products such as groundworks and landscaping, fencing and scaffolding.

Contractors have a target to recruit and train 45 apprentices during the course of the construction.

The frame for the building has been made using 1,000 tonnes of raw steel, which was manufactured in Teesside and fabricated in Sunderland.

Cllr Ossie Johnson, Cabinet member for children and young people’s services at Durham County Council, said: “The development of Consett Academy is already bringing a number of benefits to the town and the wider region, bringing investment and creating employment and training opportunities.

“And when the development is complete, the new facilities will offer unrivalled educational opportunities for young people in the town.”

The academy is part of a £43m development, which also includes a new leisure centre and swimming pool.

The new leisure centre is due to open its doors next summer and pupils at the new academy are due to start lessons in their new building from September 2015.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .