School Building Programme First for Galliford Try

The first completion of a school procured through the privately financed PF2 element of the UK's Education Funding Agency's Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) has been achieved by Galliford Try in Hylton Castle, Sunderland.

The new two-form entry school has been built for the pupils of Hylton Castle Primary School, and consists of an entirely new two-storey building with associated external works. Demolition and clearance of the old school building site will now take place to create new playing field areas for the school.

The project is part of the £150 million North East batch under the PSBP, which became the first of the EFA's privately financed PF2 batches of schools to achieve financial close in March last year, and now sets another milestone by delivering the first school to open to pupils.

The batch has proved to be a great success all around for Galliford Try and its businesses, with all of the eleven remaining schools expected to be completed on time, before September 2016. Galliford Try's Investments business retain a stake in the project, while all the schools in the batch will be covered for ongoing maintenance by a 25-year contract with Galliford Try's Facilities Management division.

Speaking on behalf of Galliford Try, Investments Managing Director Mark Baxter said: "It's a great achievement for our business that we have been able to deliver another first for the EFA. The strength of the Galliford Try group is our collaborative approach both inside and outside our organisation, which has enabled us to make this project such a success to date.

"We look forward now to completing the remaining schools in the batch, providing both high quality learning environments for local children and a first class facilities management service in the future."