MAJOR refurbishment to Bolton Town Hall is now complete, bringing the Grade ll listed building into the 21st century while preserving its impressive history.

The £7 million project, which included a total renovation of the Albert Halls, was carried out by contractor Willmott Dixon – but it could not have happened without the hard work and talent of apprentices.

The Bolton News found out how the apprenticeships benefit the company, the young people themselves and the wider community.

“I feel like I’ve really learnt a lot, it has been a really good experience for me,” said Ashley Leigh, aged 19, from Little Lever, who is on the Electrical Installation Apprenticeship at Bolton College.

Ashley started working on the Albert Halls refurbishment project with Willmott Dixon in May, 2016, and says she has progressed considerably in the last eight to nine months.

She added: “I think I have been set up for life really, I’m very happy doing the work and it’s a great experience.

“And also the social element is great, the apprenticeship has given me a lot more confidence and I have made new friends – it has just been a really good experience.”

Holly Cooper, a trainee manager apprentice with Willmott Dixon, agreed that the social side of the apprenticeship has been a positive experience.

“I work here and have made new friends but I still have my evenings and weekends free to see all my friends, it’s a good balance,” said the 20-year-old from Ainsworth, Bury.

Before being taken on by Willmott Dixon, Holly had travelled to Nepal to help rebuild a school and install a new water tank.

She said at the time she didn’t realise the importance of what she was doing to her future apprenticeship, but can now see parallels between the work she did in the Asian country and her role in the Albert Halls restoration project.

She said: “While I was out there it was a great experience and we were doing something that was really important for the local community.

“But it’s the same with Willmott Dixon, they are trying to benefit the community in Bolton through the work they are doing.

“I think my time abroad and doing that community work there is seen really positively by the company and it was a big thing for them that I was willing to put in my time with volunteering.”

As part of the Bolton Food and Drink Festival Holly built a pyramid out of wooden sticks and elastic bands outside the front of the museum and encouraged the public to join her in creating their own designs.

She has also visited schools as a representative of Willmott Dixon to talk about safety on and around construction sites and also the possible careers available in construction.

She has finished on the Albert Halls project and is now involved in the building work at Horwich Leisure Centre.

“I have learnt a massive amount on the apprenticeship, about the struggles of renovation work and how to get around them by working as a team.

“It’s great to have been learning right from the start.

“Working on the Albert Halls and then the new build at the leisure centre has been a great experience because they are such different jobs.

“Having worked so much on the restoration of the hall, I am very aware of how important it is to get things right the first time – you are thinking about what it will be like in 10 or 15 years or longer.”

Holly and Ashley are both examples of young women taking on leading roles in an industry historically – and still, to a certain extent – dominated by a male workforce.

“Just because we are women does not mean we are less capable and, in fact, I think we have power over some of the guys that maybe other men might not.

“For example when a guy asks another guy to do something, they might get a bit of grief, but with us they just do it.”

Guy Lacey, operations manager at Willmott Dixon, said: “It is fundamental to Willmott Dixon that we are engaged with the community.

“We want to leave a positive legacy in the communities where we build, such as here in Bolton, not just through the buildings but for the opportunities we give to local people.”

Twenty-one apprentices have been involved in Willmott Dixon’s town hall project, and 24 per cent of the project’s budget has been spent within 10 miles of the site – the target was 20 per cent.

And 90 per cent of the project’s budget has been spent within a 20-mile radius of the site.

Fifty-four per cent of people employed on the project live within 10 miles of the town hall.

“This is a project that has needed a lot of specialist operations and people with a lot of skill, so that makes the figures particularly significant,” said Andy Beale, senior building manager on the Albert Halls project.

“You cannot just hire anyone to do this work, so it’s a great achievement.”

Returning to the apprentices, Mr Beale said one rewarding aspect of his job as a manager was seeing their development over time.

He added: “It’s really important that our apprentices like Holly who will go on to become managers have such a good grounding in doing the work themselves.

“When you are young and on a site people who are older will work you out very quickly if you don’t know what you are talking about, but there is no danger of that with the apprentices because they will have been there and done that, they will be well-respected – they already are.”

Before Willmott Dixon began work on Bolton Town Hall, it began to seek ways to engage with the town’s community.

It carried out in-depth consultations with community organisations to find out what sort of help would be most beneficial, and appointed a community development coordinator to make sure the efforts were carried out efficiently.

As well as the apprenticeship schemes, typical activities have included providing work experience, school visits, a focus on local employment as well as supporting community festivals.

Mr Lacey added: “What is important to us is that what we do is important to the community.”