Parkside sets out apprenticeship, social value programme
Parkside Regeneration, the joint venture between St Helens Council and developer Langtree, is ready to make good on promises to deliver “real value” to those in the community.
According to John Downes, chairman of Parkside Regeneration and group chief executive of Langtree, the commitment to support the people of St Helens was made seven years ago, on day one of the planning process for the major logistics scheme in Newton-le-Willows.
“It’s payback time now and I couldn’t be more pleased,” Downes said.
Parkside is set on the site of the former Parkside Colliery, which employed more than 2,000 people during its heyday. The colliery closed in 1992. Parkside Regeneration hopes to continue the land’s industrial past and be a major hub for jobs in the region.
The £77.9m first phase of Parkside aims to create up to 1m sq ft of employment space as well as a link road connecting the site to the M6. It is anticipated to be operational by June 2024.
Parkside Regeneration has appointed St Helens Chamber to deliver the social value aspects of the scheme. That includes employing 21 apprentices and 20 trainees each year during the construction phase of the entire project, which is estimated to last seven years.
Other commitments include conducting 200 engagements a year with school children and 20 with SMEs.
The joint venture has also committed to supporting 20 low-carbon activities each year. These activities include working with local suppliers on finding ways to reduce carbon emissions and providing advice to the end-users of the scheme on how they can adopt green travel strategies for their employees.
Appointing the chamber to oversee the community initiatives will “ensure the development delivers true social value for the borough,” according to Lisa Harris, St Helens Council’s executive director of place.
“St Helens Chamber is a key partner who has an excellent track record of supporting and pairing up businesses with job seekers and will help drive the focus on providing opportunities for local residents and businesses, to ensure we spread the benefits of Parkside across the borough,” Harris said.
Parkside Regeneration is also exploring bringing the YouthBuild programme to St Helens for the scheme. YouthBuild focuses on providing young adults between the ages of 16 and 24, who are neither employed nor in school, with opportunities to gain job skills and transform their communities. More than 12,700 individuals globally participated in the programme last year.
PGIM Real Estate, which is a shareholder in Langtree, is also a partner with YouthBuild.
Downes, personally, is championing for YouthBuild programme.
“I started my career at Parkside as a 16-year-old and enjoyed a high-quality apprenticeship as a mining surveyor, but the reality is that at that time the job market was largely a choice between the coal industry and the glass industry,” he said.
“Parkside’s ultimate occupiers will be providing a wide range of jobs in areas such as advance manufacturing, logistics, technology, sales, marketing, estates management and process engineering and in developing Parkside we want to ensure that today’s 16-year-olds get the best possible advice to help them build successful careers,” he continued.
“PGIM’s YouthBuild programme, complementing the chamber’s own work, will hopefully provide local young people with a range of choices.”
