Construction National

Official stamp of approval for new community in Wigan

Richard Bacon, MP, a leading exponent of community housebuilding, has helped launch a plan to shape a Wigan church into affordable homes.

Award-winning charity Housing People, Building Communities (HPBC) was granted planning permission to develop the vacant St William’s church and presbytery and adjacent land in Ince into homes. The development, working in collaboration with Prima Housing Group work, has now started.

Read more: Official stamp of approval for new community in Wigan

UK Government funding awarded to offer free green skills training

Borders College has obtained funding of £530,400 to facilitate the no-cost provision of tailored skills and training initiatives, aiming to bolster the green economy and enhance the local supply chain for housing. This programme is strategically crafted to optimise the decarbonisation of existing housing stock and elevate the workforce's skills to meet evolving property standards.

The £530,400 funding is part of the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund, awarded to a number of organisations throughout the Scottish Borders.

Katharine Mathison, Director of Enterprise and Business Innovation at Borders College, said:

“I am delighted that Borders College has been awarded this funding to support the businesses in our region by providing the training required in the race to net-zero.

“We look forward to working with the Social Landlords and other partners and businesses to develop and deliver high-quality training experiences that provide the right skills for the future.”

Borders College Principal Pete Smith commented:

“Securing this funding enables us to continue to deliver on the initiative established under the College’s Sustainability Academy, prioritising the upskilling and reskilling to support Retrofit and Green Skills, which are crucial to ensuring businesses and communities can benefit from the opportunities arising from the transition to net-zero.

“This training will also safeguard the prospect of well-paid, highly skilled jobs in the future for the Borders and our local economy.”

The new offer of skills and training programmes is a continuation of a successful Community Renewal Fund Sustainability Academy delivered in 2021/22, with a view to building the skills for what will become a green economy.

Borders College is collaborating with Social Landlords to establish a comprehensive training programme, empowering them to achieve their decarbonisation goals. Additionally, we will extend this training to local businesses, ensuring their preparedness to meet the upcoming demand for retrofitting.

There will be a wide range of courses on offer, which will be tailored to meet the requirements of Social Landlords and companies.

These will include:

• Retrofit Introduction;
• Health and Safety;
• Air Tightness;
• Thermal Imaging;
• Thermal Efficiency;
• Managing Moisture;
• Introduction to Renewables;
• Home Insulation;
• Retrofit Electrical and Plumbing Specialist Pathways Options;

• Air Source and Ground Source Heat Pump Training;
• Battery Storage;
• Solar and Unvented Hot Water;
• Carbon Management and Literacy;
• Electric Vehicle;
• External Wall Systems;
• Smart Home Control Systems;
• Mechanical and Heat Recovery.

Courses will be on offer from December 2023, and applications can be made through the College website.

For further details on any of the exciting programmes planned, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Zero-to-landfill policy fully implemented at Borders College

Borders College is one of the first colleges in Scotland to set up and fully implement a zero-to-landfill policy, which sees no waste from Scottish Borders Campus, Newtown St Boswells Campus and the Tweedbank Campus go to landfill, but instead ensures all waste is fully separated for recycling.

The new environmental scheme, which started in April, is part of the Borders College approach to sustainability and waste management strategy to completely eliminate the disposal of waste in landfill.

Read more: Zero-to-landfill policy fully implemented at Borders College

Are you ready for the UK’s construction and design show of the year?

The UK’s leading construction show, London Build, is back at Olympia London on Nov 15th and 16th, bigger and better than ever before! Join us for an unmissable two days of incredible content, entertainment and networking, including the largest networking events for Women and Diversity in construction!

Gain access to 500+ incredible speakers across 8 stages, CPD accredited workshops, 300+ exhibitors, live demos, Meet The Buyer, Government Hub, Architect's Hub, entertainment, DJs, networking parties, live music and much more!

Read more: Are you ready for the UK’s construction and design show of the year?