Four of BAM’s young apprentices working at King’s Cross, being developed by King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership, received a surprise visit from none other than the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this week.

Mr Sunak called in to the Kings Cross site, being built by construction giant BAM UK and Ireland, to visit the energy centre and spoke to the young apprentices about their work on the scheme. He was keen to hear their views during UK National Apprenticeship Week. So, what did they tell him?

“I’m a big advocate for the apprenticeship route, even when I speak to friends and family I always say if the field you’d like to go into offers a degree apprenticeship, go for it. The most important element within the construction industry (after safety) is experience, which an apprenticeship gives you tonnes of. Speaking to the PM yesterday, it was good to hear he’ll be pushing for this route even more over the next few years, the benefits you can gain from them outweigh any other option in my opinion”, said Fearghal McGlinchey, an Assistant Project Surveyor from Hillingdon.

Mr Sunak was accompanied by Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (the newly appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero), as part of the government announcement on cleaner, cheaper energy which coincided with National Apprenticeship Week. Together they saw how a state-of-the art energy centre will be powered by 100% renewable energy and operated in partnership with the Metropolitan.

Maddie Field, an Assistant Project Surveyor from Bromley said of the visit: “It was a great surprise as we understood we were there to meet an MP, not the Prime Minister! They were very interested in our apprentice experience and emphasised it was something they were keen to promote within government.”

Hertfordshire’s Tyler Uys, Apprentice Building Services Manager, said: “It was a pleasure to be given the opportunity to meet and talk with the Prime Minister and Secretary of State Grant Shapps as part of National Apprenticeship week. It’s not every day you get the chance to voice your opinion about the importance of apprenticeships to the Prime Minister. I’m looking very forward to what the government is going to do, in the future, to help increase the number of apprenticeships available around the UK.”

BAM has been behind the majority of construction at the massive redevelopment of Kings Cross which has gradually transformed the area under the developers’ masterplan, over the past 15 or so years. Pivotal to this has been Construction Director Ewen Hunter who added: 

“It was a privilege for us to be asked for our apprentices to meet the Prime Minister and Secretary of State, which recognises the importance of apprenticeships and the contribution they make to our business and the wider construction industry.”

BAM has over 300 apprentices on its programmes across the UK, which help it tackle skills gaps, succession planning and opens up opportunities for increasing diversity within the construction industry.

The visit provided the Prime Minister and Secretary of State with a showcase of a carbon neutral estate, and hear about the plans for it to become net zero as soon as possible. It provided an example of how early thinking and investment enabled zero-carbon heating to be delivered to the entire King’s Cross estate which includes homes, offices, retail and leisure.