On Site at Elephant Park

Since 2010, we have provided equipment to the Lendlease and Southwark Council team delivering Elephant Park, a £2.3 billion regeneration project in Elephant & Castle, London. Set on 28 acres of land it is set to become the first Climate Positive development in the UK and is due for completion by 2025.

The development consists of thousands of high-quality new homes, jobs, business opportunities and green spaces alongside new offices, leisure, community facilities and shops.

The Southwark Construction Skills Centre is located on the development and trains experienced site personnel, as well as apprentices and new entrants to the construction industry who live locally. Since 2016, we have co-located with the Skills Centre to provide on-site equipment hire facility for the construction teams and industry support to the students learning their trade.

As part of our social impact plan we provide free of charge tools, equipment and plant to help the students at the Skills Centre learn real life skills, using the same equipment used by contractors on the main development. This is a highly effective method to help the next generation to learn the vital skills necessary for a career in this industry.

Customer Name
Elephant Park
Project and Location
London

The Challenge

Southwark Council works incredibly hard to reduce air pollution across the borough and challenged the supply chain at Elephant Park to help minimise dust and air pollution on site.

The Solution

To raise awareness of the environmentally friendly products coming in our fleet, we collaborated with our supplier Hilti to run a demonstration day for all site personnel.

The aim of the day was to showcase the very latest cutting and drilling technology available in a controlled safe area.

The Results

The demonstration was attended by 30 site personnel who all got to experience the latest equipment in action. The products showcased significantly reduced air pollution and focused on dust-extraction and dust control to lower the occurrence of dust particles in the atmosphere during construction work.

As part of the demonstrations we also ran training sessions for groundworks apprentices from the Skills Centre. We trained them in the safe and efficient use of the latest innovations available. One product the teams used was a brand-new cut-off saw, which enhanced personal safety and well being whilst contributing to a cleaner and healthier environment for local residents.

Our team also showcased the latest in battery hand tool technology solutions, which improve safety, lower costs and are carbon friendly due to their cordless technology, reducing the need for power generation on site.

There was great engagement from the Skills Centre and project teams who found it invaluable for making greener, safer decisions.

Our team is proud of our contribution to tackling the construction skills shortage by supporting the Skills Centre at Elephant Park. We were also pleased to be able to share ways to help Lendlease in its efforts towards a  Climate Positive development.

Thank you to Sunbelt and Hilti for an outstanding day - our apprentices learned so much! It is so important to reinforce the message about ‘safety first’ – hearing hints and tips first-hand from the experts and being able to ‘have a go’ is invaluable. Our students all learnt how to get the best out of their equipment which will help them work more efficiently and safely on site!
John White, Operations Director, The Skills Centre Limited