Local contractors deliver £15 million school infrastructure investment

A Cornish construction and professional services consultancy facilitated £15 million worth of work in Cornish schools in 2022, on behalf of Cornwall Council.

The work, delivered by Mace Ward Williams Joint Venture (MWJV), is the result of one of Cornwall Council’s highest single year investment into school infrastructure on record.

The rolling programme aims to ensure all 39 local authority managed schools in the county are in the best possible condition.
Mark Stitson, Schools Maintenance Programme Manager at MWJV, said:

“It is great to be working with Cornwall Council on a significant body of work in such important settings.
“MWJV was created to simplify the procurement process. We have a large network of local suppliers offering a variety of construction services, such as project management, architecture, engineering and surveying. Working in this way ensures a significant proportion of Cornwall Council’s budget is spent on local SMEs.”

One of the beneficiaries of the Schools Maintenance Programme is the Humphry Davy School in Penzance.

In 2022 alone MWJV has facilitated a wide body of work and upgrades in the secondary school, including boiler replacements, electrical distribution board replacements, water system upgrades, roofing work, and more.

Theresa Grainger, business manager at Humphry Davy, said:

“Much of the work carried out in 2022 has helped bring the school in line with new compliance regulations, however the upgrade that will undoubtedly have the greatest impact is the new boiler and building management system.

“Aside from being much more efficient, the new system gives us greater control of how the buildings are heated. At a time when energy prices are so high, this is going to have a significant impact in 2023.”

The Schools Maintenance Programme is scheduled to continue throughout 2023, with further investment into local authority maintained schools.