Brand new student residences have been officially opened at Royal Leamington Spa College.
The new accommodation is named Wood Hall after WCG’s Chair Stephen Wood, and he officially opened the halls with Matt Western, MP for Warwick and Leamington. Invited guests enjoyed a tour of the facilities, as well as tea and cake in aid of the Macmillan Coffee Morning campaign which raised £100.
The new accommodation consists of 98 ensuite rooms with shared kitchens and a warden flat. Students and apprentices have already moved into the accommodation which was built by Deeley Construction.
The new £4.5 million development came about when WCG was in discussion with Deeley Properties, the development division of the Deeley Group, on its need for more student residences. The company came up with an innovative way of funding the scheme by inviting a pension fund to invest in the development, allowing Deeley Properties to take care of the design, build, finance and land package.
Stephen Wood, Chair of the WCG Governing Body, said: “I was absolutely delighted to officially open Wood Hall today. The new accommodation is fantastic for our students and apprentices, especially being on the college site, and it shows we are committed to investing in the best facilities for the benefit of our students and the local area.”
John Vickery, Director of Estates for WCG, said: “The demand is high for student accommodation so it has been great to work with Deeley and their contractors on this project. I’d like to thank them and all of the college staff from the estates and accommodation teams who have been involved and delivered the project on time.”
Matt Western, MP, said: “It was great to visit the Leamington campus of Warwickshire College Group and view first hand the impressive new residential blocks. The new student accommodation is spacious, high quality and is a welcome addition in encouraging students from further afield to come and study at one of the UK’s best FE colleges. I congratulate Deeley Construction and WCG on this exemplar development.”
Peter Deeley, Managing Director, Deeley Group, said: “The way this development evolved has shown how we, as a Group, can offer much more than construction alone. By working with WCG, we helped to secure funding and then drew up a scheme that fitted its needs the best.
“On the construction side, we’ve worked with WCG before and it is always a great testament to us to win repeat business with a client in this way.”
The Deeley Group also donated 99 branded mugs to the new residents and encouraged them to ‘share a brew with their neighbour’.
For more information about accommodation at WCG, go to www.wcg.ac.uk/accommodation.
Picture caption: Left to right – Stephen Wood (WCG Chair), Matt Western MP, Camille Hardwicke-Garner (Student Sabbatical President), Martin Gallagher (Managing Director, Deeley Construction), Peter Deeley (Managing Director, Deeley Group)
