Contractor lands construction skills centre

GMI Construction Group is to convert a historic building into a sustainable construction skills centre for University College Birmingham in the city’s Jewellery Quarter conservation area.The job will see the art deco James Cond print works converted into an educational facility in time for use by the September 2023 student intake.The centre is set to offer courses in modular building, retrofit construction, and green technologies with teaching to include sustainable construction methods and renewable energy.Construction students already at the college will be able to gain ‘live’ experience by working with GMI on building the centre, where work is due to start in October.GMI construction director Gareth Jones said: “Improving the sustainability of the construction industry is high on our agenda, so it’s a pleasure to be working on a project that will provide training in this area and equip the future workforce with the skills they need to make a positive change to the industry.”Professor Michael Harkin, vice-chancellor at the college, said: “There is a great need for new talent in the sustainable construction field, with hundreds of thousands of new workers expected to be required in the next few years.”The value of the conversion work has not been disclosed.The Leeds-headquartered company was named Contractor of the Year in the under £500m category at the Construction News Awards 2022 and said it has a project pipeline worth £570m, with a forecast turnover of £395m for 2022-23.