Member Article

Hammerson Hosts Site Open Day at Victoria Gate

Hammerson, the developer behind the £150m Victoria Gate development, and the site’s principal contractor, Sir Robert McAlpine, opened the doors to the site on the 6th March as part of an industry-wide initiative designed to increase awareness of the construction industry with the wider public.

Established by the UK Contractors Group (UKCG), the open doors weekend took place nationwide as leading construction groups allowed visitors on some of their most interesting sites to invite the public to look around and ask any questions.

At Victoria Gate, Sir Robert McAlpine hosted six groups of students from schools, including the Leeds College of Building. The site’s team escorted groups of up to 15 students per session around the site to provide an overview of the project, as well as giving a brief presentation on what it is like to work in the construction industry.

UKCG is the primary association for contractors and their supply chain partners operating in the UK. Together, UKCG members account for a third of construction output in the UK. 64p of every £1 sub-contracted by UKCG members goes to SMEs UKCG works collaboratively with appropriate channels, such as the CBI Construction Council, to ensure that our voice is heard by government and society at large.

Nick Fay, Project Manager at Hammerson, said: “It was great to see so many people showing an interest in the Victoria Gate development and we are delighted to be able to offer the public a chance to visit the site. We hope the open doors event increased the awareness of the construction industry and answered any questions the public may have had.”

Peter Gallagher, SRM, said: “The open door event provided a great opportunity for us to demonstrate to the public exactly how we work and the latest developments on the Victoria Gate site. We’re at a very dynamic stage of the project now, with a lot of visual activity that the local community can clearly see and we were happy to address any questions, whilst hopefully boosting students’ appetite for a career in construction.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Victoria Gate .