THE continuing boom in North of England construction projects is leading the way to greater heights in the jobs market and the hiring of local labour, according to recruitment specialists at Russell Taylor Group.

The North’s biggest cities – led by Manchester - are experiencing a huge surge in the number of new commercial and residential schemes. And despite Brexit fears, current activity still confirms a strong pipeline of projects for the coming few years.

Gary Jones, the newly-promoted North West regional manager of Russell Taylor Group’s Construction Trades Division, said: “The building boom in the North continues to create many new opportunities for jobs and skills development.

“Inward investment and the Northern Powerhouse initiative to boost economic growth has already resulted in a massive uplift in job vacancies in the construction trades and building services sector.

“Add to that investor confidence, a strong business community plus the demand for property, particularly in the residential market, and the result is a growing need for a whole spectrum of construction trades workers – joiners, bricklayers, plant operators and labourers.

“And not only the city centre is benefitting from this trend. The construction boom has hit Greater Manchester too, particularly in Trafford, Salford and Bolton, with areas of East Manchester also ready for development.”

A year ago Manchester was shown to be one of Europe’s fastest growing cities with city centre apartment building maintaining pre-recession levels of construction. The building of around 11,000 flats in more than 40 schemes was reported and approximately 1.5 million sq ft of office floor space was also being developed, again in the city centre.

Now, according to analysts, the city outstrips the number of construction projects in Los Angeles and Chicago. In 2011 there was only one crane on the Manchester skyline but today there are a massive 78 sites under construction.

For Russell Taylor Group, this surge has seen its Construction Trades activity grow by 300 per cent over the past four years. 

Gary, who originally joined the company in a business development role after spending 18 years looking after blue-collar recruitment in construction and property, continued: “The good news is that major cities in the North of England are attracting more people to live and work there, more new jobs are being created and consequently there’s an ever-increasing demand for residential accommodation and commercial property.

“With no sign of things slowing down in construction, the outlook for Liverpool also remains excellent with new projects during the past year taking in high-rise apartments, hotels and university buildings, all demanding a full range of skilled building and construction workers.”

Rob Kurton, Russell Taylor Group managing director who is based at the company’s head office at Burton Manor, Wirral, said the business was now firmly placed at the heart of exciting plans for the economic growth of major cities in the North. Manchester and Liverpool were already experiencing major construction activity while Leeds and Birmingham are beginning to accelerate with their own inner city schemes.

He said: “New opportunities are constantly being opened up for jobs and skills development in the region and we, as one of the biggest technical recruitment operations in the UK, are very much a part of these plans, particularly in the construction, facilities management and manufacturing sectors.

“Our teams based in Manchester and Liverpool are now perfectly placed in the centre of activity in vibrant cities that are entering new phases