A Turner & Townsend associate director and CIOB fellow is helping to develop an employer-led school designed to give 14- to 18-year-olds a practical route into construction, housebuilding and property development.
Tony Bradbury, associate director at Turner & Townsend and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, is part of the team developing the Shanly Building School in Berkshire.
The project is being developed through a partnership between Beech Lodge School and Shanly Group, with the ambition of creating a specialist, employer-led technical school where young people can gain practical skills and vocational qualifications alongside direct exposure to the construction industry.
The school is intended to provide an alternative for young people who may not thrive in a conventional classroom environment. The emphasis is particularly on learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), specific learning difficulties, social, emotional and mental health needs, care experience and those at risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training).
The project will begin with a pilot alternative provision programme at Holyport in September 2026. Building Skills Ltd will offer a range of practical construction training, with an initial pilot involving 10-15 pupils from Beech Lodge and other local schools.
Students will be able to develop multi-skills including bricklaying, painting, plastering, plumbing, carpentry and joinery, alongside health and safety. The pilot is designed to test the model ahead of the planned launch of the full Shanly Building School in 2028.
New school vision
The longer-term vision is for a new-build school in the Maidenhead area, featuring construction spaces, workshops and classrooms, as well as facilities including a gym, canteen and outdoor space. It is intended to offer a wider suite of vocational qualifications, apprenticeships and supported internships for young people aged 14-18 and beyond.
The school’s approach is explicitly career-focused, with students expected to gain hands-on experience through Shanly Group’s businesses, including opportunities to visit building sites, head offices and show homes, as well as work with contractors. Mentoring and access to senior construction leaders will also form part of the offer.
For Bradbury, the initiative brings together education and industry at a time when the construction sector is facing an ongoing need to attract and develop new talent.
The rationale behind the project includes concerns over limited local access to high-quality multi-skills courses, increasing school non-attendance and the risk of young people becoming NEET. The school’s founders also point to growing interest among young people in skilled trades and the changing nature of work as AI and automation reshape traditional employment.
Long-term project
The initiative has been conceived as a long-term project. The first phase will provide alternative provision from September 2026, while plans for the permanent school, including securing a site, DfE registration, recruitment and funding, are developed. The proposed Shanly Building School is scheduled to launch in September 2028.
Bradbury sits on the project’s board alongside representatives from Shanly Group, Beech Lodge, education and local government, including RBWM’s deputy director for education and the vice-chancellor of the University of the Built Environment.
If successful, the model could offer an example of how employers can play a more direct role in creating vocational pathways into construction – particularly for young people for whom the traditional academic route does not work.
