In Focus
In Focus: Construction Jobs in the Midlands: The Latest and Greatest Projects with exciting opportunities for Quantity Surveyors and Project Managers
Earlier this year Maxim announced the opening of our Midlands office, bringing a far more specialised and effective recruitment service for quantity surveyors and other construction professionals to the region. Since then our Midlands consultants' efforts have been rewarded with numerous placements and closely developed business relations with regional and national contractors and consultancies in the area. In this article we will bring to your attention some of the largest projects currently ongoing or soon to begin from across the Midlands. These projects represent some of the best the UK construction industry has to offer and with a bit of luck you could soon be working on one of them!
Midlands Civil Engineering Projects
The Civil Engineering sector is booming in the Midlands, providing a huge number of jobs for construction professionals, whether they are quantity surveyors, project managers, or managing directors! Here are a couple of the largest civils projects on Maxim’s radar at the moment. While by no means the only projects happening, these are projects we’ve heard mentioned time and time again as excellent career prospects.
Motorway Expansion, Leicester area
Though works are not due to begin on site until at least 2009, this £1.9 billion scheme is well into the tendering and pre-contract stages, with ample opportunity for commercial staff focused in that area to get in on the action. The project involves the widening of the M1 around Leicester (junctions 21-30) from 3 lanes to 4, along with redevelopment of the junctions both to cater for the widened motorway and to improve traffic flow and safety on them. After its start in 2009, the project’s plan has its length at 3 years.
Coast Defence & Flood Protection, West Midlands area
A number of the UK's most prestigious civil engineering contractors are working on this £500m ongoing project. At sites scattered around the coasts and rivers of the West Midlands region works are under way as of April this year to reinforce or raise existing defences. With works scheduled to continue until 2011, Quantity Surveyors with a good background in either groundworks or water projects will have ample time to get in on the action with one of the big names on this scheme.
Building & Other Projects
A multitude of schemes are under way across the country to develop and redevelop towns and cities to modern standards and the Midlands are certainly no exception. New commercial, retail and residential developments are ever springing up, with national schemes bringing construction of schools and hospitals to the region as well. Here are a few of the largest projects ongoing across the Midlands at the moment:
Commercial Offices, Birmingham
This £150m project involves the construction of a single large 14 storey office tower in Colmore Plaza in central Birmingham. The works are well under way, having begun late in 2005, with all contractors and subcontracts hired and working hard towards the project’s expected completion in early 2008. The upper storeys of the building will contain nearly half a million square feet of office space, while the ground floor will house shops and/or restaurants.
School Construction & Redevelopment, Cambridgeshire
Everyone will know of the huge initiatives currently under way across the country to either replace or redevelop just about every single school. Well, this is about to make its way into Cambridgeshire in the form of a contract valuing an estimated £300 million. Contracts are due to be tendered during May, with contract awards to follow soon afterwards. Given the number of prestigious names already working on various school projects up and down the country it's a safe assumption that a similar result will occur here. The Cambridgeshire scheme has an expected lifespan of around 7 years in total, with the possibility of a further 3 if additional works are approved.
Mixed Commercial & Residential Development, Leicester
This project consists of a £250 million redevelopment of one of Leicester's major retail hubs. An existing shopping centre is being extended, nearly doubling the centre's existing retail space. Within the shopping centre extension will be a four storey department store, 8 new flagship stores, and another 40 standard retail units. Constructed along with the shopping centre development will be several apartment blocks, containing a total of 119 one and two bedroom flats, with yet more retail space comprising the ground floor. Works on the site are already being carried out by a leading UK contractor and numerous subcontractors, completion is currently expected late in 2008.
Mixed Development, Oxford
Another mixed development, this time a £225 million retail and residential project in Oxford. This project also involves the redevelopment of an existing shopping centre – Oxford’s Westgate Centre, with the extension including a department store (John Lewis) and a large number of new retail units. On the residential side, a total of 127 units are planned, ranging between 1 and 3 bedrooms. To cater for the new structures a new bus station is being constructed and a new car park will be built at a separate site to replace the old one. Works on site are scheduled begin in February 2008, and finish in August 2011.
Mixed Development, Gloucester
Yet another mixed development, though of a different nature to those previously mentioned. This scheme is significantly more residential based, with around 1,000 housing units planned, though the scope of the development also encompasses a small number of retail units, education facilities, low-rise commercial offices, leisure facilities and a 595 space car park. The said structures will be spread across a site of 25 hectares, works having begun at the end of last month. The contractor in charge of the project is a well known name in the UK, with consistently high rankings in various league tables.
And you could be working on any of these soon…
Maxim’s recently acquired local expertise in the Midlands means we’re now perfectly placed to find you the job you want in the Midlands. Whether you’re a quantity surveyor, project manager, cost consultant or civil engineer, we have a range of prospective employers and jobs to suit your needs.
If any of the above jobs interest you, or simply if you’re looking for something similar in your locale, get in touch with us on 0870 243 0446 and send us in your updated CV and see what we can do for you.