Stockport landscape contractor Great Grounds launches Staffordshire learning centre

North West landscape contractor Great Grounds has expanded outside the region with a new interactive learning centre in Staffordshire.

Located on a 25-acre site on Tickhill Lane in Stoke on Trent, Great Grounds Education & Business Centre will teach youngsters vocational skills covering landscaping, woodland management, path construction, drystone walling and pond creation.

The centre will feature derelict commercial farm buildings, overgrown land and 10 acres of woodland where primary school children can observe development work being carried out and learn about careers in the industry.

Stockport-based Great Grounds, which currently employs 17 people in the North West, created three new jobs for the launch of the Stoke centre.

The site will also serve as a base for Great Grounds’ expansion into Staffordshire.

Director Tony Millar said: “We are really pleased that the learning centre is going ahead and that we have been able to create such a hands-on destination for children to learn about landscaping, construction and grounds maintenance.

“Through our work in schools we meet a lot of children who are disengaged with mainstream education and fail to see how traditional school work will help them in the future.”

Tony added: “By creating the centre we hope to show them how skills learnt at school are transferred into the workplace and the importance of their education. Teachers also gain massively from the experience, gaining a better understanding of what future employers may be looking for.”

Royal Bank of Scotland supported Great Grounds with its acquisition of the Tickhill Lane site in 2016 and provided additional six-figure funding to develop the site into a learning centre.

RBS relationship manager Joe Riley commented: “We are pleased to be supporting such a brilliant initiative that will benefit schools across the North West and West Midlands.

“Opening children’s eyes up to the world around them and the different types of careers available is extremely important and we are keen to support companies looking to further the education of local children.”

Joe continued: “We wish Tony and his team the very best with the new centre which we are sure is set to be a real hit with schools in the area.”