Following the elections, there was barely time to draw breath before the business of the council begins again. On the Monday morning, I was pleased to open the new Construction Hub at the Longley Building on the Crawley College campus. This was an important moment for Crawley, not simply because we were opening a new space, but because it represents creating opportunity and skills for our young people.
The Construction Hub demonstrates how targeted investment can be used to support skills, jobs and long-term economic resilience in our town. Through the addition of a new mezzanine floor, this project has delivered around 500 square metres of new teaching and workshop space. That expansion will allow Crawley College to increase its capacity to deliver high-quality, practical training in construction.
That matters, because the strength of Crawley’s economy depends on having a workforce with the right skills not just today, but for the years ahead.
Through the Invest in Skills initiative, supported by government funding through the former Towns Fund, around £4.5 million of the Crawley Town Deal has been invested here at Crawley College to improve and expand the offer available.
We have also seen the opening of the Institute of Technology, bringing investment to support higher-level technical and digital skills. Taken together, these investments are creating a joined-up skills offer in Crawley from construction and engineering through to digital and advanced technical education.
We know that the construction sector is changing rapidly. There is increasing demand for skills in modern methods of construction, sustainability and green technologies. The facilities will help train local people in those areas and move into good-quality jobs.
We are already seeing strong demand for that training, with rising enrolment in construction-related courses at the College. This investment supports residents to gain skills, supports employers to find the workforce they need – and it supports Crawley’s future growth. Delivering regeneration in our town centre, supporting housing growth, and enabling wider economic activity will all depend on having a skilled construction workforce.
This absolutely makes sense – our national construction industry needs to grow to meet those ambitions and it will not happen without training the new generation. So this building is not just about education. It is about enabling the delivery of Crawley’s future.
I congratulate the College for their achievement in creating this new facility, a magnificent success, which as part of the wider works has transformed the Crawley campus. I also want to recognise council officers for their work in helping secure the Towns Fund money which helped pay for this to go ahead.
Cllr Michael Jones
Leader, Crawley Borough Council