Hundreds of apprenticeships across the construction sector are due to be created as a result of the building boom currently underway in Blackpool, council bosses have confirmed.

The new opportunities were discussed at a recent summit which attracted over 30 construction industry bosses as well as council leaders.

The event was the setting for the launch of the council’s Shared Apprenticeship Scheme which aims to allow young people from across the local area to pick up a range of new skills that will help them to progress in their chosen careers.

Some of Blackpool’s major new construction schemes currently in the works include the regeneration of the Central Business District, the Queens Park and Ribby Road housing developments, the sea wall restoration scheme and the planned Central Station regeneration. Each of these projects offer apprenticeship opportunities ranging from plastering to bricklaying, decorating, electrical work and plumbing.

Blackpool Council’s chief executive, Neil Jack, told the Blackpool Gazette that the construction projects were a real positive for young people in terms of opportunities, as well as for the area as a whole: “This is an opportunity to give our young people and others the skills they need to be employable and for construction to get the skill-base it will need for the future in this area.”

Blackpool South MP, Gordon Marsden, confirmed the importance of the new apprenticeship opportunities for the area, saying that there was a real need for jobs for young people aged between 16 and 24, as well as many older people looking to start apprenticeships. Mr Marsden encouraged local firms to sign up to the apprenticeship scheme, extolling the positives that doing so could bring for both the business and the apprentices themselves.