In pictures | HS2 opens two-week skills bootcamp 

A skills bootcamp designed to fast-track construction careers has opened at HS2’s Euston site.

The two-week course aims to get local people ‘job ready’, offering the training and accreditation needed to start work as a plant machinery operator. 

The programme is free to Camden residents over the age of 19 and is designed to support those who are either currently out of work or are seeking a career change.

The free course will combine practical training on a range of construction machinery, such as rollers, dump trucks and excavators, with classroom-based learning at the nearby Euston Skills Centre.

The initiative, which is expected to benefit approximately 30 local people, is a collaboration between Flannery Plant Hire, HS2 and its construction partner Skanska Costain Strabag (SCS), Camden Council, and the Euston Partnership. 

Funding to deliver the programme, which is due to run until the end of March, has been secured by Flannery from the Department for Education.

Ambrose Quashie, senior skills and inclusion manager for HS2, said: “We want local people to benefit from HS2, enabling them to access free, high-quality training and to develop transferable skills that will last a lifetime. 

“With an extensive construction programme underway and ambitious plans for 2025, we need more skilled people to help us build the new railway. 

“To achieve this, our contractors and supply chain partners are offering a variety of roles with long-term career prospects – this skills bootcamp is a fantastic way to harness these opportunities and to get job ready in record time.”

Following completion of the programme, successful participants are guaranteed an interview for a plant operator role and will receive a Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) card for the machine categories they have undertaken. 

Aaron Davis, safety and skills director for Flannery Plant Hire, said: “The bootcamps not only address critical skills shortages in Camden and the surrounding boroughs but also ensure that local residents are at the forefront of the opportunities created by landmark infrastructure projects like HS2.”

For more information about the programme, visit GoodWork.Camden.gov.uk or email escinfo@camden.gov.uk.