Hampshire: New skills workshop construction underway at Andover College
The construction of a new £2.7 million skills workshop for Andover College Technology and Future Skills Centre is now underway.
The modern two-storey building will provide a much-needed teaching facility covering the building trades. Fareham Amiri Construction, working to plans by London-based architects Archial Norr, will complete the structure by May 2016.
Dougy Hill, premises and facilities manager at the College, said that the new building will help to entice students to consider training for the construction industry: “It will be a great space to build a skills base for the electrics, wood and brick trades, which face a skills shortage.”
Amiri Construction says that it plans to work with the College to expand its apprenticeship programme. Its managing director Grahame Pettit says that as the industry grows following the shrinkage during the recession, the skills base will be an important factor. Amiri will see its annual turnover of £27m this financial year.