New Leeds City College campus delivers £10m boost for local firms

Wates Construction has delivered an eight-figure boost for Yorkshire businesses through the development of Leeds City College’s new Quarry Hill Campus.

The building firm, main contractor on the £57m scheme, has handed out sub-contracts on the project worth £10.2m to suppliers based in Leeds and a further £6.2m worth to companies from the wider West Yorkshire area.

Wates started construction on the Eastgate-based campus in July 2017. Among the local firms to have supported the development since then are Howard Civil Engineering, Sparta Systems, Metallic Fabrications and Planet Partitions.

The campus, which is now entering its final phase, will house Leeds City College’s School of Creative Arts and School of Health, Care and Public Services.

Wates Construction North MD Paul Dodsworth said: “Leeds City College’s new Quarry Hill Campus is an important development for the city; it will enrich Leeds’ excellent educational offer and provide state-of-the-art facilities at the heart of the cultural quarter.

“As a main contractor that has a long-established presence in Yorkshire, we are always keen to work with local supply chain partners to ensure project budgets are reinvested into the local economy.”

He added: “This was a huge focus for the project team at the new Quarry Hill campus; the project has such local significance, it was incredibly important to put local businesses at the centre of its creation.”

The new campus will welcome its first students this September.

Leeds City College’s director of capital projects, Michael Diaz, commented: “This new facility representants a major investment in education and skills in the Leeds City Region and is an important milestone in the history of Leeds City College.

“Our project has benefitted from £33.4m funding from the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Leeds City Region Growth Deal, delivered by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and it is only right that local firms and employees see the benefits of the trust that has been placed in our plans.”

He continued: “All our contractors have worked incredibly hard to get us to this point. We’re now in the final stages of creating this world-class educational facility, that will benefit students for generations to come.”