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A new academy designed to produce skilled tradespeople of the future has opened in west London.

Developed jointly by housebuilder Berkeley Group and West London College on the former鈥檚 88-acre regeneration site in Southall 鈥� Southall Waterside 鈥� the West London Construction Academy (pictured) will offer courses including bricklaying, plastering, drylining and carpentry to anyone aged 16 and above.

The 鈥楤y Industry, For Industry鈥� curriculum has been designed by Berkeley, the college and trade partners. Apprentices will gain on-site experience alongside classroom and online learning.

Berkeley Group鈥檚 chief executive Rob Perrins said the academy aimed to address the industry鈥檚 skills gap for the long term 鈥渂y inspiring the next generation and preparing them for the world of work, including giving them the best chance of securing a placement at the end of their apprenticeships鈥�.

Perrins said an apprenticeship was often the first step of a lifelong career. 鈥淎t Berkeley half of our 15 divisional managing directors don鈥檛 have a degree, with four starting out as apprentices. The experience they gained onsite was invaluable and goes to show that apprenticeships open doors and are just as valuable as degrees, if not more.鈥�

Earlier this month the chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond announced an overhaul of the government鈥檚 18-month-old apprenticeship scheme and an extra 拢90m for those employers who paid the levy who wanted to spend a quarter of their apprenticeship funds on people working for businesses in their supply chain.

Mark Farmer, chief executive of consultancy Cast and the author of the 鈥楻eform Or Die鈥� report on the future of the construction industry, labelled Hammond鈥檚 proposals 鈥減iecemeal and reactive modifications鈥�.