From left: Neil Walker, Ryan Holland, Nathan Gollins, Helen Hartley and Gary Smith with the Tetra Tech team at Bury College

Associate Planning Director, Helen Hartley, Associate Design Director, Ryan Holland and Design Manager, Neil Walker, who are from Russell LDP and Russell Homes, headed to Bury College on Thursday. They were joined by Gary Smith and Nathan Gollins, who work in Building Services for Russell WBHO. Nathan is also a former Russell WBHO Building Student.

Joined by project engineers, Tetra Tech, the event formed part of on-going relationship building between the Northern Gateway Development Vehicle and local educational establishments to ensure the huge benefits in investment and job growth, from the Northern Gateway project, are harnessed in the local communities. It was attended by more than 200 construction, building services and engineering students.

Careers-related focus

The students took part in several careers-related sessions and listened to presentations from a range of industry perspectives.

Helen - provided an overview of the Northern Gateway plans, which included focusing on local council involvement, where the project sits within the wider Atom Valley vision and the recently submitted planning application
Ryan - focused on the project design, site constraints and boundaries, as well as the overall masterplan
Neil - spoke about how the masterplan was developed from a design perspective
Gary - focused on the development infrastructure, including energy efficiency measures
Nathan - shared a more career-focused insight, expanding on how he got into the industry, his career journey so far and what working in building services involved
Malachi, Tom and Archie (from TetraTech) - explained their role as project engineers, and discussed the various routes available to aspiring future engineers

Investment and future jobs

It was a real pleasure to be invited to Bury College to discuss the range of careers on offer within the construction and engineering sector.

Northern Gateway is a significant project on a number of levels. It will play a key role in driving investment and future jobs in the northern boroughs of Greater Manchester, which will be open to the next generation of talent at Bury College and students from wider educational establishments across the region.

We hope the students found our sessions insightful and that they have been inspired to carve a career for themselves in construction and engineering, and potentially go on to play a part in helping deliver the Northern Gateway vision.
Helen Hartley, Associate Planning Director, Russell LDP

Helen Hartley during her presentation at Bury College

Inspiring the next generation

It was a privilege to visit Bury College and help inspire the next generation of construction talent. Having once been in their position, I understand the challenges and excitement that comes with starting out in this industry. I hope the students I spoke to found my real-life insight useful and that it has encouraged them to continue the exciting careers they have ahead of them.
Nathan Gollins, Assistant Building Services Manager, Russell WBHO

It was a real pleasure to welcome representatives from the Northern Gateway Development team into the College to speak to our aspiring students. Hearing first-hand from professionals shaping one of the region's biggest developments, students learned about the many roles behind major projects and discovered exciting career paths. With personal stories and expert insights, the visit inspired our future engineers and construction specialists, and clearly demonstrated how far their skills could take them.
James Shuttleworth, Business Innovation Manager, Bury College

The Northern Gateway Development Vehicle is a joint venture between Harworth Group and Russell LDP. The 11.5 million sq ft employment-led opportunity is located within the wider Atom Valley Mayoral Development Zone, and the largest development to sit within.

You can read more from Bury College, here.