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Morgan Sindall to drive on education projects

7 Dec 11 Morgan Sindall is planning to develop a national programme of building for schools, colleges and universities.

Jayne Hettle
Jayne Hettle

To boost its ability to provide strategic advice to education authorities, the contractor has recruited a local government officer to head up the initiative. The idea is to pull together the expertise of the group’s various divisions to help get projects built that face funding or planning obstacles.

Jayne Hettle joins Morgan Sindall as director of education from Liverpool City Council, where she was director of regeneration, and will be based in Liverpool.  She was previously head of regeneration at Wolverhampton City Council.

Ms Hettle said: “As a group, Morgan Sindall has the strategic resources, insights and contacts to get projects off the ground that might otherwise lack a way forward. There are 27,000 schools in the UK. The government’s Priority Schools Programme is likely to provide funding for the top 300 or so cases which require urgent investment.  For everything else, there is a need for innovative thinking about getting projects moving, which could well include the intelligent use of the land assets schools already have.”

Ms Hettle will corale the resources of its wider Morgan Sindall Group, which includes Morgan Sindall Investments Ltd, refurbishment specialist Overbury, housebuilder Lovell, and the urban regeneration company Muse Developments.

Ms Hettle added: “As a construction company with a long track record of working with schools, Morgan Sindall brings cost transparency to the process and genuine insight into creating buildings that support the ultimate goal of improving academic attainment. Whether using a modular or completely bespoke design, the company has a clear understanding that schools are unlike any other building and our role is to provide learning environments that do really inspire young people, teachers and the communities they support.”

Morgan Sindall’s education projects in 2011 have included:

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•          Delivering Carnegie Primary School in Fife, Scotland – a claimant to the title of the UK’s first BREEAM ‘outstanding’ primary school

•          Winning three new-build contracts in Hull, including Kingswood College of Arts, Oakfield Special Needs School and Andrew Marvell Business and Enterprise College – projects which included support from Morgan Sindall Investments Ltd.

•          Completion of Forest Hill School in Totton, Hampshire. The project saw the creation a new special needs school from two existing facilities in Totton town centre.

•          Handover of Bideford College, North Devon - a new facility for 1800 students on one campus.

•          University of the Arts London – Overbury recently refurbished the 40,000 square metre building, transforming the Granary Complex. The relocated university facilities include a theatre, education studios, teaching spaces, performance studios, a library, production workshops as well as a refectory, café and administration office.

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MPU
MPU

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