Experienced Builders Needed To Train Next Generation At Revamped Scarborough Construction Skills Village

A £2 million investment will reopen Scarborough's Construction Skills Village to provide high-quality building trade jobs and tackle regional workforce shortages.

Building trades apprentices and adult learners will gain access to a dedicated training centre following a £2 million investment on the Yorkshire Coast.

Regional leaders approved the Local Growth Fund package to reopen the Scarborough Construction Skills Village to tackle workforce shortages and support local housing growth.

York College will take over and revitalise the former training site, which previously closed following a poor Ofsted report.

The facility will focus on technical education, adult retraining, and green skills development, including sustainable construction methods, retrofitting, and low-carbon workforce training.

York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith highlighted the importance of the new partnership in creating lifelong career opportunities.

He said:

"It will be in partnership with York college who are exemplar in this area and I think we often talk about young people and the skills they need for things like construction but it really is that lifelong career, industry and sectors are developing so quickly that a lot of the skills that we learned when we were at school or the college have changed so drastically and they're very determined to make a real exemplar facility as the one that they already run is but yeah obviously, always a big focus on our getting our young people skilled but obviously that whole career session of jobs and really to be frank really high skill, quality, well-paid jobs."

Officials aim to build 60,000 new homes across the region over the next ten years, creating an urgent demand for skilled tradespeople.

However, securing experienced professionals to teach the next generation remains a significant hurdle for the sector.

Mr Skaith said:

"The challenge that we always find in and around construction skills in particular, is not necessarily a want of people to go and develop the skills. It's the tutors.

It's the people who then can leave industry, or who've got 10, 20, 30 years experience, and coming back, and it feels at times, a lot of that is done because of they're just good people who want to give back, and that's great. But that's not going to be for everyone, is it? So we need to work more closely with people who are in industry now to come back and actually work as tutors to train those 20, 30, 40 bricklayers per class."

The reopened Scarborough centre aims to break down transport barriers for coastal and rural communities, offering closer access to specialist provision for young people, adults seeking a career change, and those who are currently economically inactive.

The multi-million-pound funding package forms part of a wider Cradle to Career ambition to give every child and young person the opportunity to thrive from birth through to the workplace.

Mr Skaith added:

"We're going to build 60,000 new homes so we're going to need a lot of brickies, sparkies, joiners, and more. That's why we're creating more opportunities for young people and those wanting to reskill to get into the building trades. Two new construction skills villages are going to create thousands of highly talented tradies to build the homes our county urgently needs."

Councillor Mark Crane noted the initiative provides a crucial alternative for young people who do not want a university education.

Councillor Mark Crane said:

"I visited when it was being run, and I was really impressed. And the number of young people who otherwise didn't have opportunities that were there was fantastic.

Ofsted gave it a poor report, which is why it finished. And I'm delighted that York College has taken it on and that we're putting this money in to do this work, because these are exactly the skills that many of our young people need.

Not everybody wants to go to university and have a career set behind a computer screen all day. And some of these young people have got different skills. This is their opportunity and it's a real big opportunity."

The coastal investment is part of a broader £40 million Local Growth Fund awarded during the 2025 Spending Review.

North Yorkshire Council's Leader, Councillor Carl Les, confirmed the capital investment will deliver fit-for-purpose facilities to drive forward the local economy.

Councillor Carl Les said:

"We want to ensure all our communities have the very best opportunities with skills and training available to help them pursue the careers that they want to. This important capital investment in Scarborough will help to deliver fit for purpose facilities to provide those opportunities along the coast and drive forward the economy both locally and across the region. The additional £2 million in funding for skills providers will target training across sectors that show huge potential for growth including clean energy, life sciences, rail innovation and sustainable agriculture."

Scarborough recently gained designation as a Mayoral Development Zone, which allows leaders to align public sector funding and attract private investment.

An initial £10 million regeneration fund will kickstart development across these key zones, ensuring a steady local labour supply and creating long-term economic benefits for the region.