More footholds emerge to help businesses benefit from the £1bn Golden Valley Development
If Gloucestershire's to truly capitalise on the Golden Valley Development it needs to land the jobs it will create or it'll be a lost opportunity of a lifetime. How it can do that just became clearer.
Dear reader,
All the talk last week around National Apprenticeships Week was difficult to escape if you are a regular visitor to social media.
Also difficult to escape is the regular output of marketing from the team at the Golden Valley Development, the high-profile Cheltenham Borough Council-led project to build a new business park and thousands of houses on land to the West of GCHQ.
The latter comes with talk of how it will create several hundred jobs in construction in the county and thousands more thereafter. Which brings us back to apprenticeships and the need for better pathways for career development at all levels in the sector.
Last week all that talk around apprenticeships led us to the news we share below of some real, tangible developments that look set to help pave the way for delivering some of the solutions to all that - and creating real opportunities in the construction sector for businesses and ambitious individuals alike.
It’s a small detail, but we like it because we think it shows the county working together to try and make sure any opportunities - from the Golden Valley Development or elsewhere - remain right here in Gloucestershire.
Have a great week.
Best regards,
Andrew Merrell (editor).
Briefing notes…
👷♀️🏘️ 19 new affordable homes for Gloucestershire village. Two Rivers Housing has launched a new partnership to provide 19 new affordable and accessible homes in Alderton, near Tewkesbury. The Willowbank Meadows site in the Gloucestershire village of Alderton is owned by Midlands-based developer Owl Homes and will provide 48 new homes in total. The first homes at the site are due for completion in spring 2026. More here.
🪚💷 Gloucestershire accountants Hazlewoods has revealed its part in the sale of Herefordshire family firm Pontrilas, a timber processing business. It’s a business with a team of more than 530 staff boasting the largest timber processing mill in England and Wales. Hazlewoods provided vendor financial and taxation due diligence on the transaction led by Corporate Finance Partner, James Whittaker, allowing the firm to become part of Ireland’s largest sawmiller, Glennon Brothers.
🔊🎶 Stroud-headquartered loudspeaker specialist ATC Loudspeaker Technology is a step closer to being able to go ahead with expansion plans. The business revealed those plans in 2023, and it has now had some of that detail signed off by the district council, paving the way for expansion at its Chalford site, which could create up to 59 new jobs, growing its staff team to 150. Its client list has included Pink Floyd, Mark Knopfler, The Rolling Stones, The Killers, Sting, Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Royal Opera House.
Diary dates
Tuesday
Book in to see award-winning Gloucestershire photographer Andy Barnham for a a special ‘headshot open day’ - an exclusive one-hour studio session aimed at professionals and creatives who value a deliberate, unhurried approach to their personal brand. £100 per person. More here.
Marketing and visibility as a small business. Book a 1-2-1 with Izzy Weatherall of Support Small UK, a qualified digital marketer, to learn how to make your small business stand out online. More here.
Friday
🏉 Gloucester Rugby play Sale Sharks at Kingsholm. KO 7.45. Round nine of the Premiership Rugby Cup.
Future thinking… more diary dates
Two clinics from accountants Randall & Payne are due to take on Monday 23 February. First up, from 9am to 4.30pm, a free advice clinic with a Xero expert who can navigate you through the systems and try out the various tools so you can see for yourself if Xero would work better for your business. More here.
And from 1pm to 4.30pm the Shurdington-based firm is inviting you to solve your business or personal finance conundrums at another of free advice clinic. Issues up for discussion include management succession, dealing with accounting tax regulation to managing payroll and VAT. More here.
In more Randall & Payne-related news - book into a ‘meet the expert: Financial health check’ session with Shaun Pegler, a partner at Randall & Payne. He’s due to deliver special one-to-one sessions to help you help your business grow. The Growth Hub, The Alliston Centre, Stroud Road, Cirencester. More here.
Gloucestershire College is due to stage a special Apprenticeship Open Evening on Wednesday 25 February 2026 from 5pm to 8pm at its Gloucester Campus in Llanthony Road. It’s free to attend. Many of Gloucestershire’s best employers, big and small, will be on hand to chat. Apprenticeship programmes at the college cover everything from construction, professional services, engineering, dental, catering, teaching and hairdressing to cyber security and computing. More here.
Willans LLP solicitors and Cheltenham Open Door (the Cheltenham headquartered law firm’s nominated charity for the year) invite you to join them for an evening of fun, fundraising and friendly competition in the run-up to the Cheltenham Gold Cup. For the price of the entry fee, which all goes to the charity, you and a team of your making could be in with a chance of winning one or more of six recorded races. Price includes two drinks and pizza buffet per person. Thursday 26 February at The Bottle of Sauce, Cheltenham. More here.
* The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read by us is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.
If you upgrade to become a paid subscriber you’ll be part of this CIC too. You’ll help make us sustainable, be able to see past the paywalls, comment on our stories, and know you’re making possible the county’s only editorially-led platform dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire about its businesses, charities, education and training sectors.
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A key foothold to help county truly benefit from the £1bn Golden Valley Development
If Gloucestershire is to truly capitalise on the Golden Valley Development it needs to land the jobs it will create, or it’ll be a lost opportunity of a lifetime. How it can do that just became clearer.
By Andrew Merrell.
We keep reading about how the £1bn Golden Valley Development will not only create a new tech-focused business park and 3,700 houses, but also 12,000 new jobs in Gloucestershire and hundreds in the construction sector too.
But that suddenly doesn’t sound quite as beneficial if those contracts and jobs go to workers from outside of the county and they disappear to spend those earnings elsewhere.
Of course, those driving the development want new businesses to move here to the new tech park, bring their existing staff here as well as create new jobs.
But in the early stages, the immediate beneficiaries should be those in the construction industry lucky enough to be hired to do the building work, except it’s a sector that is crying out for skilled staff.
It’s a challenges that has focused the minds of those in the county in a position to produce a solution, and a little more of that solution has just emerged - along with a clearer picture of the scale of the challenge.
“There are 140,000 vacancies in general construction nationally. When you look at that alongside the Government target of 1.5 million new homes during this parliament alone, that’s a massive challenge,” said Alan Mulrooney, senior business and apprenticeships sales executive at Gloucestershire College.
Earlier this month Mulrooney addressed Constructing Excellence Gloucestershire - whose members represent all facets of the county’s construction sector - alongside Jack Kidder from HBD (Henry Boot), Cheltenham Borough Council’s preferred contractor for the Golden Valley Development.
He wasn’t there to tell the group’s members about the immense skills challenge or the potential of the Golden Valley for them or future staff, they already know only too well about that.
He was there to talk about the work the college has been doing to provide solutions they asked for.
This centred around some brand new qualifications aimed supporting the sector’s need to create more managers, and provide attractive and more obvious career pathways.
“When people think about skills shortages in construction they often think about jobs on the tools. True, this remains a major focus for the sector and for us at the college.
“It is thought we need something like 20,000 new ground workers, 20,000 new electricians, 10,000 carpenters, to help meet the target of filling 140,000 vacancies. We’re helping with that too, of course.
“But the whole point of what I and the college do is to talk to and listen to businesses and hear what they need and provide opportunities to gain those skills.
“Which is why we are introducing a site supervisor apprenticeship Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ) in Construction and the Built Environment. They are due to start in September.
“This is to support trainee site managers. We have people with good technical skills in the industry, and good courses to bring on more, but leadership is a different discipline. It requires data analysis, cost benefit analysis.
“The industry is desperate for this too, to help businesses develop and grow. These skills and more are all something up-and-coming site managers really need support with. The industry has told us that’s what it wants and we are delivering.”
He added: “And on the subject of the pipeline of talent, we also want firms to appreciate how they can utilise T Levels. They replaced the old BTECs.
“They are almost the opposite of apprenticeships. Students are full time, but as part of their course they are also embedded within a business. So they learn all about the business, but that also allows the business to take a good look at them too.
“It can help them become a solid, valuable member of their team, but costs the business nothing.
“From that perspective, it is like a two-year interview. Businesses see them develop, get to know them and the student gets valuable technical knowledge and skills that put themselves in line for any job opportunities too.”
The HTQ is a Level 4 qualifications - equivalent to the first year of a degree, delivered part-time at the Cheltenham Campus and lasting two years.
On completion you can advance to a Level 5 Higher National Diploma (HND). It’s a key missing link in a potentially exciting career development pathway leading from the tools to management and senior leadership.
The HTQ is designed for individuals seeking to build a career in construction, with a focus on practical skills and industry-relevant knowledge.
The course includes core and specialist units assessed through assignments and is aligned with occupational standards developed in collaboration with employers.
It is designed to provide industry-relevant skills for immediate employment or progression to higher education.
Entry requirements include GCSE English and Maths at grade 4 (C) or equivalent; relevant Level 3 qualifications (e.g. BTEC, A-levels) or Access to HE Diploma. Mature applicants with work experience may also be considered.
This follows the college’s investment in a new £5m Sustainable Construction Centre in Cheltenham, completed in 2024, to support hands-on training.
Applications for full-time courses starting in September 2026 are already open. Early application is recommended due to high demand. For more details, visit the Gloucestershire College courses page here.