Building upon the successful delivery of nearby Bingham Primary School and Rosecliffe Spencer Academy, the new Millside Spencer Academy is the third school Arc Partnership have designed, cost managed and delivered in partnership with Morgan Sindall Construction for Nottinghamshire County Council since 2021.

Located on former farmland, the new school forms part of the £14m investment in education in East Leake by Nottinghamshire County Council. Now that the keys to the school have been handed over to The Spencer Academies Trust, local residents can benefit from an additional 315 primary and 26 nursery places.

Sophia continues; "I’d like to say a big thank you to Nottinghamshire County Council, Arc Partnership and Morgan Sindall Construction, as well as the support and vision of Spencer Academies Trust, who have opened a school which will inspire our children for years to come."

During the design and delivery stages, Building Information Modelling (BIM) was utilised by the project team, allowing the project to benefit from coordinated and clash-detected 3D models, which also helped give greater programme certainty, contributing to an on-time handover.

Councillor Taylor, Cabinet Member for Children and Families continues; "New schools like here in East Leake are very much an investment in our children’s future and from what I’ve heard from pupils and staff they are delighted with their new surroundings.”

The project exceeded targets for local spend with subcontractors, with 54% local labour and local spend achieved within a 20-mile radius during delivery. A high level of engagement with SMEs was achieved and 99% SME spend, with approximately £50,000 spent with social enterprises. There was also a 100% fair payment rate of the supply chain, meaning that all subcontractors were paid within 15 days.

Additionally, Arc Partnership and Morgan Sindall hosted site visits for undergraduate quantity surveyors from Nottingham Trent University, with guest lectures provided by Morgan Sindall. Within the local community, the project team collected for local food banks and helped the school with the set-up of its forest school. Ukrainian refugees have also found employment onsite through Radiant Cleaners, a social enterprise and real Living Wage employer that provides opportunities to disadvantaged adults.

Through all of this activity, the project earned a social value return of 46.5%, ensuring more than £4.5 million of the project spend was reinvested within the local area.

"It has been an honour to work as part of such a supportive, collaborative team to design and deliver Millside Spencer Academy."

Sara Williams | Head of Pre Construction, Arc Partnership