Telford Businesses urged to embrace Shropshire’s multi-billion pound construction programme

Construction businesses from across Shropshire and beyond have been urged to play their part in helping to deliver a multi-billion pound programme of projects planned for the region.

Plans to regenerate Shrewsbury’s Riverside area and the flagship Station Quarter development in Telford were just two of the key opportunities outlined to more than 100 business representatives attending the Project Pipeline event on March 22, at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury.

The major event hosted by Shropshire Constructing Excellence, the Constructing Excellence Midlands Shropshire Club, attracted companies operating across the sector – from housing developers to sub-contractors and civil engineers to main contractors.

Mark Barrow, chair of Shropshire Constructing Excellence and executive director of place at Shropshire Council, told delegates that construction was fundamental to supporting growth in the Shropshire economy.

He outlined a draft pipeline of key projects in housing, transportation, education, health and the environment totalling £5.58billion by 2032 and estimated the potential economic impact of such developments to be in the region of £16.29billion.

Speaking after the event, he said: “It’s been great to see such a fantastic turnout and to see so many ambitious organisations looking forward to grasping opportunities locally to grow their own business.

“We want to understand how we can help these people achieve success.

“We do great things in Shropshire and we need to work together more to create and leverage opportunities for as many businesses as possible and that’s what these networking and knowledge-building events are all about.”

The event also heard from Katherine Kynaston and James Dunn, directors at Telford & Wrekin Council, about the ongoing construction opportunities in relation to the flagship Station Quarter project which is set to provide new education, housing and business facilities.

Matt Laws from event sponsor Shrewsbury Colleges Group gave an overview of the wide range of training courses on offer to the construction industry including its new Higher Technical Qualifications and the newly created shorter, modular courses which aim to support industry professionals with flexible and creative learning.

“Our aim is to provide a relevant and responsive training provision which meets the skills the industry needs. The construction sector is a priority sector for us with a specific focus on the environment and technology.

“We are so much more than a college that supports young people. We are working to support the sector and many of our courses have been developed in partnership with businesses working across construction.”

Harpreet Rayet, of Cornovii Developments, updated the event on STAR Housing’s successful retrofit project near Oswestry, sustainability plans and SAP calculations, whilst Andrew Carpenter, from Constructing Excellence Midlands, also explained how the organisation works together with SCE for the benefit of construction businesses.

The event also provided an opportunity for delegates to network and build new partnerships.

Project Pipeline event host, Amy Bould, managing director of Be Bold Media and committee member of SCE, said: “It was fantastic to see so much appetite from businesses wanting to be involved with so many great projects and developments and we look forward to our next event which will be just as informative and engaging for those working across the sector.”

Pic: Mark Barrow director of place addresses the audience