Lovell and Morgan Sindall Construction join forces with Building Heroes to sponsor the Darlington Skills Academy
The three-year partnership supports pathways for Service leavers and veterans into construction careers.
We are delighted to announce that Lovell and Morgan Sindall Construction, both divisions of Morgan Sindall Group plc, are spearheading a collaborative three-year sponsorship of the Building Heroes Darlington Skills Academy, delivered in partnership with Darlington College, a leading FE college and outstanding training partner in the North East.
This strategic alliance underscores each divisions commitment to the former military community, social mobility, upskilling, and widening access to meaningful careers across construction, housebuilding, facilities management and infrastructure. In 2025, the Group and all its associated divisions achieved the Gold accreditation of the Armed Forces Covenant.
A Partnership with Purpose
The collaboration will provide Building Heroes learners with real-world insight, strong industry connections, and a breadth of opportunity across the built environment. When working with Lovell and Morgan Sindall Construction, learners will benefit from the wider experience of other divisions of Morgan Sindall Group and their extensive supply chain.
Darlington College, recognised as a centre of excellence for technical and vocational skills, brings a collaborative, progressive, and employer-led approach to the partnership. Its modern facilities, expert tutors, and commitment to up-skilling and redeployment make it the ideal environment to prepare learners for successful civilian careers in construction and the built environment.
The sponsorship is expected to directly support a minimum of 80 learners per year through the Darlington provision, but engagement from Lovell and Morgan Sindall Construction will be welcomed across the whole of the Building Heroes network which currently supports 700 learners per year, with capacity set to grow as the Darlington Skills Academy expands its training offer. To date, we have supported over 4,200 military-connected learners across our training network to access nationally recognised civilian qualifications, CSCS cards, and health & safety awards. This partnership supports Building Heroes to continue to provide barrier-free training not only in Darlington but across Britain, supporting Service leavers, veterans and the wider former military community into meaningful employment.
For us, this partnership brings stability and room to grow: it underpins the barrier-free training offer in Darlington and enables development of an “Enhanced Academy” over the coming years — expanding programmes, deepening employer engagement, and enhancing outcomes for Service leavers, veterans and the wider former military community.
Why Darlington and the North matter
Situated close to Catterick Garrison, the Darlington region is at the heart of the British Armed Forces community. The Darlington Skills Academy is ideally place to support former forces personnel and their families, from both the local and national military community, to up-skill and access opportunities to develop sustainable, skilled careers in the construction and infrastructure sectors.
John Leary, who leads the Building Heroes initiative for Lovell said: “It has been a privilege to help nurture our relationship with Building Heroes over the last three years or so, and I am particularly thrilled that just as our year of Gold Sponsorship has come to an end, we are able to now ensure our work with the charity can solidly mature to a wholly new level, through our planned development of an enhanced academy at Darlington College.
Moreover, with our sister company Morgan Sindall Construction now alongside us, we have a much broader capability and skill-set with which to support the Charity and seek to enhance the Learners’ experience through an exciting programme of site exchanges and other interaction, all of which will clearly and soundly underpin our Group’s pledges under the Armed Forces Covenant and, importantly, help create new opportunities for Service leavers and veterans in Darlington and across the wider North East.”
---
Andrew Waddington, Head of Design for Morgan Sindall Construction in London, who has championed the Group’s Armed Forces commitments having spent 19 years serving in the Royal Engineers himself commented: “Our partnerships with specialised armed forces organisations such as Building Heroes means that we can work in collaboration to deliver the specific requirements of Service leavers, veterans and the former military community.
Our decentralised business model means that we are working in close partnership with our local communities and the defence sector via our social value teams and we’re looking forward to applying this approach to our Building Heroes partnership.”
---
Christopher Charles, Chief Executive of Building Heroes Education Foundation responded: “This support is a powerful statement of trust in Building Heroes and in the potential of Service leavers and veterans. Lovell and Morgan Sindall Construction are demonstrating what responsible industry leadership looks like, backing people, places and skills. In Darlington, close to the Catterick community, this partnership will expand opportunity and deliver real outcomes: recognised qualifications, site exposure and job-ready talent that helps address the sector’s skills shortage. We’re proud to stand together on this, and excited for the impact we’ll deliver over the next three years.”
Next steps and official launch
The launch of the partnership was celebrated at the graduation event for its recent cohort. Fourteen learners from the former military community completed an intensive five-week programme of training across November and December 2025. It blended:
- Core construction skills development in a compact, high-impact format.
- Employability support, including CV preparation and interview coaching
- Employer introductions across the sponsoring partnership network
- A live site immersion day, taking learners "behind the hoarding" on an active construction site to connect workshop learning with real-world delivery
The support of Lovell, Morgan Sindall Construction, and the wider Morgan Sindall Group network will further strengthen what is already an excellent provision at Darlington, enabling us to widen opportunity and deepen impact for Service leavers, veterans and the wider former military community.
