The £162 million phase two development at Thorpe Park Leeds has reached a major milestone in the number of people gaining access to new jobs in the construction industry.
100 new jobs have been created so far through the main contractor GMI Construction and its supply chain as it progresses on site. Thirty per cent of the jobs have been taken up by Leeds residents. In addition to the new jobs, 10 new apprenticeships have also been created.
This achievement reflects a commitment made by development partners Scarborough International Properties and Legal & General Capital to support and promote local employment and skill opportunities wherever possible. It is part of an established partnership with Leeds City Council and its Employment & Skills Service.
Thorpe Park Leeds is already a well-established 800,000 sq ft business park with over 60 occupiers including IBM, National Grid, Atkins and United Utilities.
Delivery of phase two is now underway to provide 1.35 million sq ft of mixed accommodation which includes a new 300,000 sq ft shopping and leisure park and the first phase of 940,000 sq ft of offices. The development also includes 300 new homes by Redrow and a 113-acre public park with sports facilities.
Simon Marshall, Joint Chief Executive at Scarborough International Properties, said, “We are delighted to have created 100 local jobs through the development of phase two at Thorpe Park Leeds. This is the tremendous result of our collaboration with Leeds City Council, with which we have a dedicated delivery team working to maximise local employment and education at every opportunity.
“This extends to a local schools’ engagement programme and initiatives working with partners such as Ahead Partnership to broaden student perceptions of the construction industry. To date 1,335 pupils have been involved in a range of careers events, workshops and curriculum challenges that we have hosted.
“Local engagement will remain extremely important to the partnership as we work over the next six years to deliver phase two at Thorpe Park Leeds. We are confident that when the project is complete and operational over 13,000 new jobs will have been created.”
Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Executive Member for Employment, Enterprise and Opportunity at Leeds City Council said,
“Leeds City Council is working in close partnership with Scarborough Group International, GMI Construction and its sub-contractors to maximise employment and skills opportunities for local people.
“I am delighted to see that there are already ten apprentices working on the site and we hope this number increases throughout the lifetime of the construction period. We also look forward to many more job opportunities becoming available to the tenants of Thorpe Park once the development is completed.”
Phase two also includes delivery of the first section of the ‘East Leeds Orbital Road’, a key piece of infrastructure connecting north and east Leeds to Junction 46 of the M1. This road will unlock land for the construction of up to 7,000 new homes in the East Leeds area, land that is either already allocated in the Local Plan or which is ‘brownfield’.
Thorpe Park Leeds recently won the coveted ‘Best Deal’ Award at the Yorkshire Property Awards 2016 for its ground-breaking £162 million funding arrangement with Legal & General Capital. Kevin McCabe, founder and Chairman of Scarborough International Properties was also awarded Property Entrepreneur of the Year at the Insider Property Industry Awards 2016 for his role in attracting Far East investment to Yorkshire.