Education construction gains a boost in Scotland

Glenigan’s recently published construction data has revealed that there has been a £1Bn boom in spending, by the Scottish Government, on education construction projects following the announcement of the £1Bn Learning Estate Investment programme (LEIP).

As part of this new programme 26 schools will be replaced by new campuses, with 11 of these 26 having been announced recently, while the remainder will be declared over the course of the coming months.

This substantial amount of money is being produced through a partnership between the Scottish Government and local authorities, with the central government contributing between £220M and £275M in funding, while the Scottish Future Trust has been appointed as the managing body of the new programme.

The LEIP programme is predicted to provide a healthy shot of work into the Scottish education construction sector pipeline after Glenigan market analysis found that the underlying value of education construction starts in the sector decreased by nine per cent in 2018 and likewise fell by a figure of ten per cent in the first eight months of 2019.

Improvement was not unforeseen however, as the underlying value of education projects being granted planning permission, but not yet having commenced, in 2018 had rocketed by a proportion of 44%.

Adding to this, Scottish universities have begun investing in some very substantial improvement projects, with the University of Strathclyde investing a sum of £65M on a brand new National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland which will be constructed by the Irish company Will Bros.

Furthermore, the University of Glasgow is also investing in a new School of Engineering, which shall be one of the many topics discussed by a gathering of Scottish university representatives at a conference in Glasgow to discuss the university construction sector pipeline.

Meanwhile, a new £17M primary school is currently underway at Danderhall in Midlothian, by another Irish company named Heron Bros. Whereas a contractor is yet to be named for the £18M Dargavel Village Primary School project in Bishopton-on-Strathclyde, which is due to commence imminently.

Some of the schools scheduled to be replaced under the LEIP programme include the Dales Park Primary School, Meethill Primary School, Peterhead Academy, and the Anna Ritchie School in Aberdeenshire which will be replaced by the Peterhead Community Campus.

And finally, the Tain Royal Academy, Knockbreck Primary School, Craighill Primary School, and St Duthus School in the Highlands will be replaced by the Tain 3-18 Campus.

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