The Construction Skills Hub has expanded with the creation of two new classroom spaces – creating an additional 45 training spaces at the site.
Based in Mastin Moor, the Construction Skills Hub is primarily funded through the Staveley Town Deal but additional funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has allowed for its expansion.
The Construction Skills Hub is a sector specific training facility - over the next decade the Hub will provide careers insights, training and work experience for more than 5,000 learners from school age to adults seeking to re-skill.
Hub students gain real-world experience from day one, supported by industry-leading tutors and with direct access to employers. The hub’s unique training model equips students with practical skills and knowledge that the sector needs to tackle the well-documented skills and recruitment gaps in construction.
Since the Hub was set up, over 150 students have studied a variety of trades like groundworks, bricklaying, electrical, plumbing and site joinery. Degree level apprenticeship training is available for construction management, quantity surveying or civil engineering.
The two new classrooms will help the hub support 45 additional students and launch new courses including adult skills courses and specific skill focused bootcamps.
There is also an additional cabin, that acts as a student support hub, to accommodate additional staff needed to support the increased learner demand.
The hub is run in partnership between Chesterfield Borough Council, Chesterfield College and the University of Derby at the heart of Devonshire Groups development site at Mastin Moor.
Councillor Tricia Gilby, leader of Chesterfield Borough Council and vice chair of the Skills and Employment Partnership, said: “The Construction Skills Hub is a fantastic example of how the public, education and private sectors can work together to create training opportunities for local people that will allow them to benefit from a growing local economy. This additional funding will help expand the number of students at the hub and ensure more local people can benefit from this innovative approach to training so that they gain the right skills so they can gasp the opportunities available in a growing construction sector.”
Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward said: “Investing in skills is essential to driving growth across the East Midlands and the Construction Skills Hub shows how high-quality training can help people move into good local jobs.
“Funding support means the Hub can expand, giving more residents the chance to gain the practical, in-demand skills employers need.
“By backing initiatives like this, we’re helping people progress while building the workforce needed to deliver new homes, infrastructure and regeneration across our region."
From all of the students that have progressed from the Construction Skills Hub into employment, 69% are progressing into construction-based jobs, against the national average of 23% for construction-based college learners.
The Construction Skills Hub received £108,000 from the Mayor of the East Midlands and East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) from funding provided by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
