Open Doors Week 2018

Kier opened a record 53 sites across the country – from Edinburgh to Exeter, Carmarthen to Cambridge, members of the public have been able to get a glimpse behind the hoardings and find out what goes on at a live construction site.

Feedback from people visiting our sites has been overwhelmingly positive with attendees commenting that the mix of presentation and site visit gave them a good understanding of Kier as a business, as well as real insight into what it’s like working on-site.

Kier Construction Northern had 7 sites participating with 122 members of the general public visiting our sites in Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, North Wales Leeds and Sheffield.

Liverpool – 51 people attended

Huntington Primary School – Huntington is a village outside Chester where we are building a new primary school which will accommodate pre-school and primary school children. The weather for the event was fantastic, clear blue skies and we had visits from both spectrum of the age profile from primary school children to retired governors. Visitors were impressed with the scale of the project and the actions being taken to conserve the environment through visible management such as installation of an attenuation pond to the underground installation of a foul water pumping station to manage waste from site.

Connah’s Quay – We opened our site in Wales where an extension is being created for the secondary school, The Open Doors opportunity generated interest in careers in construction with three attendees looking for work placements and they were impressed with the steel structure and programme of works.

Kaplan Liverpool International College – The central site attracted keen photographs who were impressed with the scale and complexity of the site and are looking to follow the development through the stages of completion. We also welcomed a student from John Moores University who is studying site management and we are looking to support his studies through a weeks’ work placement.

Yorkshire – 16 people attended

Astrea Academy – The site team welcomed visits from a variety of people including local Job Centre Plus staff, university staff, young people, local residents and a Kier employee who brought his son along. Although the visits gave us the opportunity to provide project information, it was really interesting for the site team to hear some of the histories about the listed building project, as one of the attendees had lived on the street for over 20 years and was able to provide us with information.

St Albans – David Wilson and his site team provided a fantastic insight to this brilliant project. Dave talked attendees through all aspects of the works. The project attracted visits from students, property developers and professionals. Dave and his team have agreed to offer work placements for students who were interested in gaining the experience and they have also welcomed further visits to show project progress.

Manchester – 55 people attended

Turton High School – Staff, students and the general public were able to see the foundations and footprint of their soon to be dining room. Information was shared on the process of piling, shuttering and we even had an excavator working on site that day. The presentation introduced students to Kier’s Shaping Your World, Virtual Interactive Built Environment (VIBE) and images of what the finished building will look like. Students interested in a career in construction will soon be interviewing with Gavin Turner, for work experience opportunities on both Turton High School and Blackrod Primary School projects

Windmill Green – Professionals and members of the public joined Andrew Brayne and Ryan Southern on Friday and Saturday to learn about the intricate structural renovations and new build process on Windmill Green. Joined also by our Early Careers employees, all were given a BIM modelling presentation which highlighted the difference between old and new building methods. Offering an insight into how far we have advanced with the introduction of carbon fibre wrapping to reinforce concrete columns. The Windmill Green session resulted in 5 visitors following up with work experience requests, a testament to the fact that Open Doors really does promote and encourage people into the construction industry.