HS2 contractor welcomes 500th apprentice 

The contractor has welcomed its 500^th apprentice, Kordell Carty, who will help to deliver the high-speed railway project.

Carty has been appointed as an apprentice formworker and is currently based at HS2’s River Blythe bypass bridge site, working for Galldris as part of the BBV supply chain.

He is part of a 35-strong team building a structure that will allow the high-speed line to pass above a brook and a bypass channel of the River Blythe in Warwickshire.

Carty said: “The highlight of working on HS2 is being able to see first-hand the progress of the project. I’m taking in as much as possible – I’ve never worked on a construction site of this scale, and I was intrigued to see what it would be like.

“My colleagues are great, and I really enjoy working onsite. In the future, I’m looking forward to seeing the finished railway and being able to say that I helped to build it.”

As well as learning on the job, Carty is undertaking his level 2 studies at BBV’s Warwickshire-based apprenticeship training hub. 

The hub opened in 2023 to deliver steel fixing and formwork apprenticeship training, and has supported more than 30 local jobseekers so far.

To date, 1,865 apprentices have joined HS2 and its supply chain – putting the project on track to meet a target of generating at least 2,000 apprenticeships over the lifetime of the programme.

Julie Venn-Morton, senior skills and inclusion manager at HS2, said: “Apprenticeships are crucial in helping us to deliver HS2 and integral to our drive to leave a lasting skills legacy for people in the West Midlands and beyond. 

“We are very proud to see BBV reach this milestone, which supports our mission to upskill the next generation of construction workers.”