Our rapidly growing need for cleaner energy, efficient new homes and electric vehicle infrastructure means this should be a bumper time for appropriately trained individuals and companies. But serious skill gaps in key fields like electrics, retrofit, bricklaying and carpentry have created a bottleneck that is currently preventing us from fully exploiting those opportunities.

In the article below – recently published in the The Yorkshire Post – our Principal, Danny Wild, explains how our new campus will help the region tackle the issue.

Numerous studies have laid out the scale of the problem, with nearly one million extra construction workers expected to be needed by 2032. To meet that demand, we will need to see a dramatic, 34 percent increase in apprenticeship completion rates along with a major upswing in training.

This represents a genuine structural challenge for the country, its educators and businesses – one that will require a significant increase in the amount and quality of training, and apprenticeship, places that are available.

A future-proof new campus

Students being given a tour of our under-construction new campus by developers Caddick Construction

The government’s plans to allow school pupils to follow technical education pathways from the age of 14 is a welcome step in the right direction in terms of early engagement, and should hopefully encourage many more young people to embark on a journey that will see them go on to join the workforce as valued tradespeople.

To succeed, however, this strategy will also need enough places waiting ‘down the line’, in further education, to ensure such students can continue and advance their training – and we know, from a number of reports this year, that this is just not currently the case. 

That is why institutions like ours are investing heavily and working hard to expand capacity while ‘future-proofing’ our facilities, to ensure we can train greater numbers of the tradespeople we need for generations to come.

At Harrogate College, this has involved a complete £22 million rebuild of our campus that will produce a new teaching block, complete with a digital technology suite, replica hospital ward and electric vehicle workshop, plus a standalone Clean Energy Centre.

Stepping up to support electricans

We will also, once the work is completed later this year, have three additional electrical workspaces which will allow us to train more people and go some way towards addressing the growing demand, across Yorkshire, for access to electrical courses.

And our Clean Energy Centre, with its EV (electric vehicle) charging wall, will help additional students learn the skills they need to support electric Vehicle (EV) charger installation and repairs – techniques that will become increasingly important as we continue to transition to electric modes of transport.

Indeed, qualified electricians are among some of the most in-demand roles in the building sector at the moment, both for their contribution to conventional construction projects and newer technologies including heat pumps, solar generation, renewable energy integration and EV charging.

Spreading the word on sustainable construction

Sustainable construction, and especially retrofit – the process of upgrading existing properties to make them more energy efficient and environmentally friendly – is another key growth area that is urgently in need of more training support, with some 230,000 skilled workers needed by 2030.

To that end, we have been putting a lot of effort into both facilitating retrofit courses at the college and having our teachers trained, thanks to Local Skills Improvement Fund money, in retrofit methodology and techniques.

Those teachers will in turn be cascading that knowledge to other members of staff, and our new facilities will include two retrofit rigs for learners to work on, too. This will help us as we put on more retrofit courses, including evening classes for companies that  need to upskill their staff. It will also allow us to step up our efforts to meet the local demand for these skills while building a reputation as a specialist retrofit training provider.

We will  have a solar panels unit to demonstrate how this renewable energy technology works, a full size passivhaus – a highly efficient property demonstrating ultra-low energy usage standards – plus air source heat pumps and HIVE units; it’s all about ensuring our learners can acquire the core green skills the industry needs before they join the workforce.

Businesses at the heart of what we do

CEO Steven Sexton from Techbuyer, the first business sponsor of our new campus, with students.

Employers are also very interested in training their employees in retrofit, especially, plus other bespoke green skills  – and we’re looking to extend that substantially from our new facilities, while working closely with local businesses to build upon our apprenticeships programme.

This support for the sector will also see us delivering new courses from our new campus, including health and safety classes for people who need to acquire the CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) card that’s needed to work on a building site.

This is an exciting time as we, along with fellow colleges across Yorkshire and beyond, adapt and expand to rise to the significant challenges ahead. Yes, the scale of those challenges is considerable – but so is our commitment, bolstered by our purpose-built new facilities, to rise to meet them and help our region reap the rewards.

To do so, we will be forging even closer ties with our fantastic local businesses so they can help shape our courses and ensure our students are truly ‘industry ready’ by the time they leave us. Employers should contact our Performance and Projects Coordinator, at Lynn-Yang.Liu@harrogate.ac.uk, to find out how to get involved.

We’ve been giving Harrogate school students a guided look around our under-construction new £22m campus.

The visit was organised as part of the college’s ongoing partnership work with Rossett School, and led by the developers behind our redevelopment, Caddick Construction. 

Caddick Construction’s Project Manager, Matt Hargreaves, showed a group of Year 10 students around the building site at Hornbeam Park. Matt also explained the different stages of the construction process, and talked about the many, and varied, roles available within the industry.

Real-world lessons

Regional Managing Director for Caddick Construction North East & Yorkshire, Steve Ford, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome the Year 10 students to our Harrogate College site.

“At Caddick, we’re committed to investing in the communities where we work, and providing students with real-world insight into the construction industry is a vital part of that. 

“It is always inspiring to see the next generation engaging with our sector. We hope this visit gave them a valuable perspective on the career opportunities available, and piqued their interest in choosing Harrogate College for their further education.”

Our replacement campus will provide new and upgraded training facilities including an advanced construction centre, a replica hospital ward, a digital suite, an electric vehicle workshop and a renewable energy technology centre.

Inspiring the next generation

Principal Danny Wild said: “It was wonderful to welcome the Rossett School students in and give them a firsthand look at a major local building project.

“Construction is so important to North Yorkshire and to our country, which urgently needs more homes.

“To hit the ambitious annual housebuilding targets that have been set will require a significant increase in the industry’s workforce – and that means encouraging more young people to pursue careers in this exciting industry.

“Our new campus and its facilities will enable us to take our training, including in advanced and sustainable construction techniques, to a new level.

“We hope this visit has given the students real insights into both the building process and the wide range of jobs that are available within the sector.”

Partnership in action

Rossett School, meanwhile, said it was grateful to the developers and the college for giving its students ‘genuine experience of what it is like to work on a live construction site’.

A spokesperson said: “Experiences such as these play an important role in helping our students explore future career options and make informed decisions about their next steps.

“We look forward to continuing our excellent partnership with Harrogate College and providing further opportunities for our students in the future.”

Our new campus is being funded by £20 million from the Department for Education plus £2 million from the college’s parent organisation, Luminate Education Group.

Techbuyer has become the first sponsor of our under-construction £22m new campus.

The sustainable IT solutions firm, which has its headquarters at Hornbeam Park, already works closely with the college on everything from student visits and joint projects to guest talks and work placements.

It has also joined our Employer Board, which was set up to let local businesses collaborate with us to ensure the curriculum is delivering the courses and skills the region needs.

Techbuyer has now become the first commercial sponsor of the new campus which is set to open, furnished with state-of-the-art equipment to meet North Yorkshire’s priority skills needs, in early 2027.

Supporting education, skills development and innovation

The sponsorship will lead to one of the new main building’s digital rooms receiving Techbuyer branding, and to the company committing to two visits per year to talk to students.

CEO of Techbuyer Europe, Steve Sexton, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be the first business sponsor of the college’s new building; this reflects our long-term commitment to education and skills development in the area.

“Access to high-quality learning environments and current technology will help ensure students gain hands-on experience that mirrors the workplace.

“We believe the new building will become a hub for innovation and industry engagement, and help create clear pathways from education into skilled employment.”

Building on strong foundations

Techbuyer Europe’s Head of Marketing, Katie Fraser‑Smith, said: “We see this sponsorship as part of an ongoing partnership.

“From the outset, we’ve been impressed by the college’s commitment to equipping students with practical, industry-relevant skills. 

“We’ve been pleased to offer a range of opportunities to students, including work experience placements, careers talks, and insight sessions into our industry. These give them valuable exposure to real working environments and help bridge the gap between education and employment.

“We’re especially proud that two students who completed work experience with us have since gone on to secure permanent roles within our company. That’s a fantastic outcome for them and for us, and demonstrates the value of early engagement.”

An exciting new chapter ahead

Our new main building will be fitted with high-end kit, including a Virtual Reality studio and eight digital suites, to ensure it can keep pace with advances in technology.

Other new facilities will include a full replica hospital ward, an advanced construction centre and a renewable energy technology base.

Principal Danny Wild said: “It is great to welcome one of our key partners and neighbours, Techbuyer, as the first sponsor of our new college building.

“The company provides so many fantastic opportunities for our students and we have already achieved some great things together. We look forward to further developing this very rewarding working relationship as we move forward into an exciting new chapter for both the college and the region.”

Businesses interested in becoming a sponsor of the new campus, which brings with it a range of promotional opportunities and benefits, should e-mail: Lynn-Yang.Liu@harrogate.ac.uk.