Reading: Work starts on £30m business school

Work on the new £30 million University of Reading business school building will start with a formal turf cutting.

The ambitious project – which is jointly funded by the University, private investment and the Higher Education Funding Council for England – will further reinforce the University of Reading’s reputation as one of Britain’s leading business schools and signifies the University’s commitment to providing a world-class teaching and learning environment.

The first turf will be cut on Wednesday July 4 2007.

Professor John Hendry, head of the Business School, said: "The start of construction of the new Business School is a key event and comes at an exciting stage of our growth and development. The new buildings will provide a superb learning environment in which to drive forward and deliver on our commitment to academic excellence, practical relevance and employability.

“This is a landmark development by an internationally acclaimed team of architects and will provide a fitting home for what is fast becoming one of Britain's top international business schools."

The state-of-the-art building is due to open in 2009 and also incorporates an extension of the ICMA (International Capital Market Association) Centre. Additional new facilities will include a dedicated resource centre, café, high-tech 275 seat lecture theatre, dedicated research space, IT rooms and high quality teaching space. The business school is the largest school at the University with more than 1,500 students currently so over future years tens of thousands of students will benefit from the new facilities.

Some 200 guests have been invited to the Commencement Ceremony. Peter Erskine, Chief Executive Officer of O2, and René Karsenti, Executive President of ICMA will be joined by a host of guests from the world of business, for a short ceremony followed by a reception at the ICMA Centre.