Northcott school – April 2023 – Hull Esteem Newsletter

Working in
partnership with

sections installed in one day

100

crane used for modular lifts

time capsule buried by pupils

Update from Site Manager

The project has been successfully managed from initial contractor arrival on site to the problem free delivery of the classroom modules and the excellent event to celebrate the school’s new learning space.

The last four weeks has seen the final fit out of classrooms including flooring, lighting and furnishings.

Externally, ramps and steps have been installed in addition to landscaping surrounding the classrooms.

The project has now concluded with the official handover completed on Tuesday 18^th April.

We are working with Houltons on this scheme.

Handover event

Tuesday 18^th April marked the official handover of the four new modular classrooms to Northcott School, an expansion that enables the school to provide post-16 provision.

The handover event begun with Northcott School’s headteacher Katherine Johnson addressing school pupils and visitors on the significance of the expansion.

Visitors at the event include Hull City Council, Esteem, Houlton, and BBC Radio Humberside.

Pupils marked the formal opening of the classrooms by lowering a time capsule filled with memorabilia that was contributed to by every year group throughout the school.

Pupils and visitors were provided with a tour of the classrooms by the site contractor Houlton, allowing the opportunity for questions and photos.

Social Value & Community Engagement

The children who were involved in the handover event and had the opportunity to see the new classrooms were winners of a competition Northcott School ran.

During the handover event at Northcott School, pupils were interviewed by Amanda White of BBC Radio Humberside to provide their thoughts on the new classrooms.

Residents living close to Northcott School were kept informed about the progress and upcoming works through regular resident letters.

Spotlight On:

Houlton is a 143-year-old, fifth generation family-owned business. Beginning in October 1879 when George Houlton Senior relocated to Hull from his native Lincolnshire, where he had served time as an apprentice bricklayer. Houlton is managed by a team of locally based Directors overseen by Richard Houlton and his son Thomas Houlton.

We currently have 120 employees, 40 that are office-based comprising of a plethora of job roles such as: Contracts Managers, Quantity Surveyors, Estimators, Pre-Construction and SHEQ managers and ably supported by the services of accounts and IT departments. Our site workforce employs 80 people varying in highly skilled trades including Joiners, Bricklayers, Ground Workers, and Apprentices. 90% of our workforce live within the HU postal code. As a local employer our ethic is to wherever possible employ local people for local projects. Together, our workforce provides the breadth of knowledge to allow us to carry out a myriad of projects ranging from small maintenance jobs to multi-million-pound schemes. We engage a minimum of 2 new apprentices every year and currently employ 8 – one of whom this year won ‘Apprentice of the Year’ at Hull College. Last year the Department of Education recognised Houlton as a top 50 SME Apprenticeship Employer.

Following our reorganisation of the business two years ago a new Fire Prevention Division was launched and has been highly successful in providing and fitting fire doors for local authorities and private sectors.