The initiative was developed by Kier Highways and will be supported through a series of e-learning training modules based on applying collaborative approaches to the partners’ work. The CLC also supports the work of the OnSide Youth Zones charity which provides leisure activities, mentoring and careers advice for young people from deprived areas.

CIHT chief executive Sue Percy welcomed the launch of the Collaborative Learning Circle and its support of the charity which, she said “can provide opportunities and develop the confidence and potential” of young people.

Kier Highways executive director Dave Wright said that the circle of companies involved in the initiative promises to “become a bigger circle before too long and be industry leading”. He added that the collaboration of those involved has already started to identify ways in which safety risks on sites can be addressed, for instance. “We are more than happy to share this with anyone else in the highways industry and the wider construction industry too; it has such potential.”

Dave also announced that the board members of companies involved in the CLC have agreed to work together towards a target of offering 5000 job opportunities in the highways sector to young people from the OnSide network over the next five years. “The Collaborative Learning Circle provides a fantastic opportunity to achieve a consistency in excellence across services and to achieve massive social value,” he concluded.

Kier Highways collaboration and improvement director Martin Duffy stressed that companies who work together can more easily share safety innovations, such as mobile barriers used to protect roadworkers on busy sites.

The eight companies involved in the Collaborative Learning Circle are Aggregate Industries, Carnell, Chevron, Kier, R&C Williams, Toppesfield, Tarmac and WJ. To find out more about how the initiative works, visit collaborativelearningcircle.co.uk