On Thursday the 7th of September, there was a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the Cumbernauld Academy and Cumbernauld Theatre Campus. The sod cutting ceremony was led by the Deputy First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, John Swinney MSP. This £37 million development project will be the third in a series of collaborations which has taken place between North Lanarkshire Council and hub South West Scotland. The partnership will be following on from their success at Greenfaulds High School and Clyde Valley Campus. The project has included a streamlined planning process through the use of tried and tested design principles. Mr. Swinney commented at the event that the construction work will provide a boost to the local economy as well as lead to more apprenticeship opportunities for young people in the construction industry. It is also great to see more progress on the project which will lead to the Cumbernauld Academy and the Cumbernauld Theatre Campus. The project will be an expansion of hub South West’s portfolio of work that has been carried out with North Lanarkshire Council. This project is the third large school development that will be created through this partnership and progress demonstrates the hard work of all of those working on the construction project so far. Increasing efficiencies have been seen across the south west of Scotland over the course of the last few years due to a more productive relationship being formed between hub South West and a range of Tier 1 contractors and local suppliers. This improved relationship has also led to work being carried out for the best value for money. The company, hub South West is a living age employer and also works to secure a participation from local businesses in their projects from at least 65% for all of their contracts.