Hobson & Porter, Innovation based on tradition

The first piece of turf has been cut in a £17m rebuild of a city college. Dr Richard Smith, principal of Wyke College in Grammar School Road, west Hull, joined contractors Hobson & Porter for the sod-cutting ceremony. The new building has already been marked out and construction work is set to begin in August. It is the first of two buildings that are to be erected at the site and is expected to be finished within a year. The second will be completed 18 months after that.

The multi-million pound college has had 85 per cent of its funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and is the first in Yorkshire to have been funded to that extent by the organisation. Previously, the LSC would only fund colleges to the tune of 35 per cent. Jane Lyon, area director for the LSC, said: "We are supporting this build for a number of reasons."The state of the current buildings is one and, equally, you want to drive forward a learning environment for the future. The college has had rapid improvement in terms of achievement so you want to continue that."

The new college site will be built alongside the existing one so lectures will not be affected. The current buildings will be knocked down. David Watson, managing director at Hobson & Porter, said: "We built the Wilson Building, which opened in 2005, and it is brilliant for us to have this follow-on job."

The building contractor is also creating a new entrance to the college off Bricknell Avenue and the current Grammar School Road entrance will become a pedestrian entrance only. They will also construct a new gym at neighbouring Kelvin Hall School.

Dr Smith said: "We would like to say how much we have appreciated Hull City Council working with us on this."

Mark Tomlinson, contracts manager at Hobson & Porter, is a former pupil at Wyke College and Kelvin Hall. He said: "It was a nice school to be a pupil at. I think there is an exciting future for Wyke College."

Article courtesy of Hull Daily Mail.