A prestigious event at Broadgate celebrated the partnership launch of Broadgate Future Talent – a collaborative five-year project to create new apprenticeship pathways for young Londoners.

As the project’s charity partner, Construction Youth Trust (CYT) invited its Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, to the showcase of how a major London development can be a powerful engine of social mobility and workforce diversity. Along with property company, British Land and construction company, Sir Robert McAlpine, CYT also invited guests from the City, as well as partner employers and some of the project’s young beneficiaries.

The vision of Broadgate Future Talent is to introduce young people from the City’s neighbouring communities to all aspects of the built environment sector, to inspire them about working in an industry with a huge skills-need, and to support these budding young professionals to develop their employability and connect with life-changing career opportunities.

CYT has worked with British Land and Sir Robert McAlpine to forge partnerships with other Broadgate employers who have pledged financial and in-kind support.

Carol Lynch, Construction Youth Trust CEO, stated: “We expect Broadgate Future Talent to engage 500 young people from low socio-economic groups each year. Through the delivery of inspiring sessions in schools in Central London Forward boroughs, as well as immersive world-of-work experiences and support from our coaches and industry mentors, we will tackle hidden barriers and many young talents will achieve their career potential as a direct result of this project.”

Paul Hamer, Chief Executive at Sir Robert McAlpine, commented: “As an industry we need to attract a greater diversity of talent, and we are looking for under-represented young people who will spearhead developments in the future. The quality of students we are seeing come to us through this project is outstanding. We want to employ them; we want them to be part of the future of our business.”

David Lockyer, Head of Development at British Land, said: “At British Land we are committed to having a lasting positive impact in everything we do. This collaboration ensures we can do just that through our developments at Broadgate, supporting emerging talent into the industry and helping businesses attract and retain this talent.”

The event was held on the final day of a three-day Building Future Skills course – just one of a suite of programmes run by CYT to support young people into inspiring careers. The winning team from the 16–17-year-old participants were presented awards by The Duke, following which three of last year’s cohort, now higher-level degree apprentices, took part in a panel interview to discuss their career journey – and their future plans as young professionals.

ENDS

About Broadgate Future Talent
Broadgate Future Talent is a five-year project involving collaboration between many organisations involved in the redevelopment of Broadgate, spearheaded by British Land and Sir Robert McAlpine, and supported by charity partner Construction Youth Trust. This is an exemplar of how a major London development can act as a powerful engine of social mobility for young Londoners and play a significant role in attracting local diverse young talent into professional apprenticeship routes. Central to this vision is listening directly to the voice of young people and developing a compelling careers proposition that connects with the values and aspirations of diverse young Londoners from the local community.

About Construction Youth Trust
Construction Youth Trust is a registered charity whose mission is to inspire and support young people to achieve their full career potential in the construction and built environment sector. Social mobility is at the heart of our work and we prioritise supporting those young people from low-income backgrounds, most likely to miss out on opportunities or facing the greatest barriers to employment. We help young people recognise their potential and discover opportunities that have never previously been presented to them.

About Sir Robert McAlpine
Sir Robert McAlpine is a family-owned building and infrastructure company operating across the UK. We have been proudly building Britain’s future heritage since 1869.

We are honoured to have worked on some of the country’s most iconic buildings and projects.
The values at the heart of our operations include a commitment to the highest standards of safety, quality, engineering excellence, sustainability, and a steadfast focus on the needs and aspirations of our clients.
We champion equality and welcome a diversity of talent to our inclusive family culture.

Working in partnership with our clients, we aim to make a positive impact on the communities and the environment in which we operate, as we construct a better world for future generations.

About British Land
Our portfolio of high-quality UK commercial property is focused on London Campuses and Retail & London Urban Logistics assets throughout the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at £12.7bn (British Land share: £8.7bn) as at 30 September 2023 making us one of Europe’s largest listed real estate investment companies.

We create Places People Prefer, delivering the best, most sustainable places for our customers and communities. Our strategy is to leverage our best-in-class platform and proven expertise in development, repositioning and active management, investing behind two key themes: Campuses and Retail & London Urban Logistics.

Our three campuses at Broadgate, Paddington Central and Regent’s Place are dynamic neighbourhoods, attracting growth customers and sectors, and offering some of the best connected, highest quality and most sustainable space in London. We are delivering our fourth Campus at Canada Water, where we have planning consent to deliver 5m sq ft of residential, commercial, retail and community space over 53 acres. Our Campuses account for 62% of our portfolio.

Retail & London Urban Logistics accounts for 38% of the portfolio and is focused on retail parks which are aligned to the growth of convenience, online and last mile fulfilment. We are complementing this with urban logistics primarily in London, focused on development led opportunities.

Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our approach is focused on three key pillars where British Land can create the most benefit: Greener Spaces, making our whole portfolio net zero carbon by 2030, Thriving Places, partnering to grow social value and wellbeing in the communities where we operate and Responsible Choices, advocating responsible business practices across British Land and throughout our supply chain, and maintaining robust governance structures. Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.