CONSTRUCTION company Willmott Dixon has joined forces with Anglia Ruskin University to deliver a leadership programme for its managers.

The Learning Academy for Leaders is being launched at the company’s purpose-built training centre, at Elmwood, on Chineham Park, which opened in 2008.

Willmott Dixon, one of the UK’s largest privately-owned capital works, regeneration and support service companies, chose Anglia Ruskin ahead of five other universities to validate its internal course for future leaders – the Management Development Level (MDL) 3 programme.

The partnership allows senior managers on the programme to accrue credits to progress to the MA in Leadership course, starting with the Postgraduate Certificate.

These programmes will be delivered by academics from Anglia Ruskin’s Lord Ashcroft International Business School.

Willmott Dixon invests around £2million on training and development each year, providing an average of four-and-a-half training days per employee compared to an industry average of two days. Around 40 Willmott Dixon managers are enrolled on to the MDL3 each year.

Group chief executive Rick Willmott said: “Staff development is a huge part of what our company is about. We’ve recognised that for many years the best place to grow talent is from within the business.

“Partnering with Anglia Ruskin University is a significant step for us. We chose them because they support the core values of our company and I know they will strengthen our programmes.”

Professor Lesley Dobree, deputy vice chancellor at Anglia Ruskin, said she was delighted to be partnering with Willmott Dixon in the delivery of programmes for the company’s future leaders.

She said: “Undoubtedly, studying in the workplace and by distance learning is an area that will continue to grow, and we are proud that Anglia Ruskin has a long and successful history of working with employers.”