THE boss of a major Bolton firm supplying services to the construction industry has condemned the planned HS2 rail link between London and the North as a £60 billion waste.

Peter Vinden, managing director of The Vinden Partnership (TVP), disagreed with politicians who say the high-speed service would “unlock” development and present unprecedented oppor-tunities for the North.

“The notion that HS2 will bring tens of thousands of jobs to the North could be classed as a farce,” said Mr Vinden, who founded the Folds Road company with his brother, David, 20 years ago.

“Rather than uniting the North and South as one, HS2 will extradite our region’s businesses, making it more accessible and faster for people to reach the country’s capital.

“The northern region has just been given more support than it has in recent years for its manufacturing ventures and it seems that progressing with HS2 will be counterproductive.

“All the time and effort trying to garner interest around bridging the skills gap within the region and making young people interested in the industry will become obsolete, as they will be able to commute from the North to London more easily.

“Academics still disagree over whether the high-speed rail will help or hinder our country’s deprived regions.

“There is evidence suggesting that it is the capital that will benefit from the HS2 link because it will bring more wealth to the city.”

Mr Vinden, aged 50, founded the company with his 54-year-old brother in 1994.

It now has an annual turnover in excess of £3 million and has offices in Nottingham and London, although the head-quarters is still in Bolton. The firm employs 50 people.

TVP specialises in quantity surveying, dispute and project management, building surveying, commercial property services, corporate solutions and sustainability and insurance services.

“We are continually working hard to create an apprenticeship scheme for the younger generation in an on-going attempt to bridge the industries skills gap,” said Mr Vinden.

“It would be devastating to lose this talent pool to the capital. I am not saying that no one should move down South.

“I am only advocating that £60 billion does not need to be spent in order to facilitate this internal migration.”