Hercules PLC (LSE:HERC) said its training division, the Hercules Academy, is on course to train 2,000 students this year, marking a major milestone for the business just 18 months after launch.
The Academy, based in Nuneaton in the West Midlands, opened in February 2024 with a target of training 400 new entrants in its first year but exceeded expectations by reaching 1,100 trainees by February 2025.
The facility supports the UK’s infrastructure and construction sectors by addressing the national shortage of skilled workers.
Industry body the Construction Industry Training Board has forecast that 225,000 additional workers will be needed by 2027 to meet demand.
Hercules Academy offers a wide range of accredited courses, from health and safety and plant operations to specialist training in utility detection, highways work and working at height. It has also introduced a Women-Into-Construction programme and delivered new industrial warehousing qualifications.
Located close to Birmingham and Coventry, the Academy trains workers involved in major regional infrastructure schemes, including HS2. It is also benefiting from Hercules’s acquisition of Quality Transport Training in Staffordshire, which expands its training capacity.
The Academy recently launched a prison education initiative, training inmates at HMP Holme House in roadworks and street maintenance skills, with plans to extend the scheme to HMP Sudbury.
Chief executive Brusk Korkmaz said: “The Hercules Academy is going from strength to strength. Our acquisition of QTT makes us one of the UK’s leading private training providers in the infrastructure and construction sectors.”