North Uist Primary School

Project value: £8.6m

Sector: Education

Local labour within 20 miles: 73%

Local spend within 20 miles: 32%

Considerate Constructor Scheme score: 45/50

As Head Teacher, I can say that working with Robertson’s staff has been a positive and anxiety free experience for me and for all involved in the life of the school. This has been a job well done!"

Sarah Jane MacSween

Head Teacher | North Uist Primary School

North Uist is an island in the Outer Hebrides, on the north west of Scotland and at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The decision was made by Western Isles Council to create a new school, merging three existing primaries on the island into one,100-pupil school.

This project involved the National Project Management and Quantity Surveying framework, led by Pick Everard the National Major Works framework, delivered by Robertson Construction.

Due to their remoteness, island communities are very close knit, so managing local sensitivities throughout was vital to the success of the project.

Robertson Construction’s local, Gaelic-speaking site team worked closely with them, integrating fully into the community in a way that mainland staff may have been unable to do. This provided the local communities with reassurance that the project would be delivered with their interests and needs as a central consideration.

The building requirements included:

A nursery
Multi-use games area (MUGA)
Synthetic grass pitch
Car parking

The school opened in August 2016 with final completion of the project in January 2017 following the demolition of the old school.

Over 73% of the labour force lived within 20 miles of the site, securing vital jobs for the local island community. The project team also helped a local contractor to diversify his business; he now employs two full-time staff.

As well as engaging with the school students and staff and providing a range of work experience and apprenticeship opportunities, the site team also achieved a silver Award from the Considerate Constructors Scheme.

Silver Award

Considerate Constructors

73%

Local labour within 20 miles

32%

Local spend within 20 miles