Academies are a major part of our schools portfolio, and the relationships behind them say everything about how we work. Trusts don't return to a contractor by accident; they return because the first school was delivered on time, on budget, sustainably, and with their pupils and reputation protected throughout. That's the standard we hold ourselves to on every academy we build.

We understand the pressures academy trusts are under, to expand provision, to replace tired estate, to hit net zero targets, and to do it all without disrupting a single school day. From multi-academy trusts running schools across a region to the Department for Education delivering the national rebuild programme, we bring the scale, systems and sector knowledge to make ambitious projects feel certain.

Trusted by leading trusts

Our partnership with Outwood Grange Academies Trust is a case in point. The £38m transformation of Outwood Academy Kirkby in Nottinghamshire is the third school we've delivered for the Trust, following Outwood Academy Danum in Doncaster and Outwood Academy Hemsworth in Yorkshire, a growing relationship built on consistent delivery and a shared commitment to giving students the facilities they deserve.

That repeat-client confidence runs across our academies work, from large multi-academy trusts to single-school transformations procured directly by the DfE.

Delivered through the DfE rebuild pipeline

Much of our academy work now comes through the Department for Education's Construction Framework, where we are the most active education partner of any contractor.

As Government invests in the School Rebuilding Programme, rebuilding over 500 schools across England through to 2034–35, we're already delivering at the front of that pipeline. Our £20.7m Durham Academy in County Durham is a recent example: a new 500-pupil secondary school, net zero carbon in operation, replacing buildings that had reached the end of their life.

Net zero as standard

Today's academies are built to the DfE's latest sustainability specification, and we go further wherever we can. Across our recent academy projects you'll find air source heat pumps and solar generation, net zero carbon in operation targets, and measurable biodiversity net gain, Outwood Academy Kirkby alone delivers a ten per cent biodiversity uplift.

It's part of a wider education portfolio that includes the UK's first Passivhaus secondary school, Harris Academy Sutton, which set the national benchmark for ultra-low-energy learning environments. And through our Energy Synergy® building performance service, we help trusts make sure those sustainability credentials translate into real, verified savings once the doors open.

Built around a live school

Most academy rebuilds happen on constrained, occupied sites, with hundreds of pupils on site every day. Carefully phased demolition and construction is something we plan from day one while the existing schools remain fully operational throughout, with the old buildings removed only once the new ones open. Continuity of education is never an afterthought; it's designed in.