Value of building projects in the education sector has doubled
(25/12/2009)

According to a report by industry analyst Glenigan, the value of building projects starts in the education sector has doubled year on year to almost £1 billion.

Allan Wilen, Economics Director at Glenigan, says: “The government has shifted its education focus from refurbishment to providing ‘modern learning environments’ through the BSF scheme. 42 schools were completed over the previous financial year and 115 are due to open by the end of this, as well as 200 more by 2011/12. Our recent research shows a significant spike in July’s activity with August falling back slightly. While other sectors are declining consistently education remains at historically high levels.”

To ensure education stakeholders have a platform to knowledge share and take advantage of the current sector buoyancy, the organisers of BETT, Civils and Interbuild have collaborated to launch a new regional show dedicated to Building Schools for the Future (BSF) in Manchester (1-2 February 2010).

Day 1 will see visitors guided through the preparation of a school transformation programme and challenges will take place at intervals throughout the day with delegates representing the interests of local authorities, pupils and school staff.

Day 2 will comprise the keynote speech by Tim Byles along with case study sessions focusing on the procurement process. Delegates will be invited to host their own Bidder’s Day and learn how to identify the right bidders.

The show will also feature 6-8 seminar areas related to key BSF topics where event partners will offer key insights and thought leadership expertise.

Rob Lozowski, Commercial Director for Civils, says: “There’s a steep learning curve many stakeholders are going through right now to ensure the new learning environments are fit for purpose. What better way to improve that process than by bringing local authorities, PFI investors, advisors and educationalists together with specialist specifiers and contractors?”

With every UK local authority already, or about to become, involved in the BSF process, Learning Spaces Live promises to offer practical solutions to the challenges currently faced by stakeholders in education.