Ed Miliband MP and Lord Blunkett visit Bentley works to see how Lower Thames Crossing will support local jobs

Skanska’s Bentley Works is a key hub for cementation, steel fabrication and ground engineering

A recent event at Skanska’s Bentley Works facility in Doncaster showcased how the site and local staff will play a key role in delivering the Lower Thames Crossing, one of the country’s most important transport projects.

Skanska’s Bentley Works is a key hub for cementation, steel fabrication and ground engineering, and the visit provided an opportunity for Doncaster North MP Ed Miliband to see how Skanska’s role working on the Lower Thames Crossing will provide training and job opportunities for local people. 

Lord Blunkett - Skills Advisor for the Lower Thames Crossing project and Ed Miliband MP, met with local apprentices and engineers to learn more about the skills, technology and innovation being delivered on the site, how it will support the Lower Thames Crossing project and help it leave a lasting local skills legacy.

The Lower Thames Crossing is a new road connecting Kent and Essex through the longest road tunnel in the UK. It will boost growth by doubling road capacity across the Thames east of London, easing congestion on the Dartford Crossing and improving journeys between the ports of the south-east and the midlands and the north.

Over the six years of main construction, the Lower Thames Crossing will create work for more than 22,000 people through the supply chain and wider economy.

This will create a legacy of skills and work opportunities for communities across the UK. Facilities like Bentley Works are playing a key role by equipping apprentices with the necessary skills to support this vital infrastructure project. The visit highlights how regional hubs across the country are preparing the workforce and supply chain needed to deliver one of the UK’s most transformative infrastructure projects.

Skanska, one of the Lower Thames Crossing’s three Delivery Partners, is responsible for building the southern part of the route and is supporting the project’s ambition to build the UK’s greenest road.

As a pathfinder for low carbon construction, the project is working closely with its supply chain to reduce carbon from construction. The Bentley Works facility in Doncaster supplies low-carbon concrete and steel, and invests in cleaner more efficient work practices, which will help to position the site as a national leader in sustainable construction.

Lord David Blunkett said:

“With a workforce of 3,500 across the UK, Skanska is a major infrastructure employer, and its Doncaster site plays a vital role as a key partner in delivering projects like the Lower Thames Crossing.”

“We spoke with apprentices about the skills they were developing, which will be vital not only for the Lower Thames Crossing, but for the UK’s wider infrastructure ambitions. The project and the skills being developed at the Bentley site will leave a legacy that will support careers long after construction is complete.”

Ed Miliband, MP for Doncaster North, said:

“I very much enjoyed my visit to Skanska and hearing about the work they are doing and the jobs they are creating for the local community.

“I was particularly pleased to hear about their apprenticeship programme and to meet an apprentice from my constituency and hear about her work. She is a brilliant example of Doncaster’s young people and the great future they can create for our city.”

Gracie Bocking, Skanska’s Bentley Works apprentice said: 

"It’s been really beneficial doing my apprenticeship and I’ve really enjoyed all the different placements I’ve been on. At the same time as working, I’m undertaking a Civil Engineering degree apprenticeship at Anglia Ruskin University. I’m really proud to work with Cementation Skanska, it’s a great team to be part of. I feel well supported and proud to be a female engineer and an apprentice.”

Matt Palmer, Executive Director for the Lower Thames Crossing, said:

"The Lower Thames Crossing is one of the UK’s most important economic growth projects, and our visit shows how our plans to create jobs and new green skills will support businesses right across the UK. It’s great to visit Bentley Works and see how its brilliant apprenticeship programme is inspiring young people from the region to join the industry.”

Andy Entwistle, Managing Director of Cementation Skanska, said:

“We were delighted to host National Highways, Lord Blunkett, Ed Miliband and Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire. It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase our 115-year presence here in Doncaster at Bentley Works, and demonstrate how through the expertise of our piling, ground engineering and steel fabrication teams we are supporting key building and infrastructure projects across the UK.

“The discussion allowed us to focus on how projects like the new Lower Thames Crossing will create jobs, opportunities and economic growth for people here in Doncaster and across South Yorkshire, leaving a long-lasting legacy that stretches far beyond the physical footprint of the project.”

The Lower Thames Crossing is designed to be the UK’s greenest road and will help to develop the skills the UK needs to reach net zero by setting new standards for low-carbon construction.  The project will remove diesel from its worksites by 2027 by using greener, cleaner hydrogen and electric powered machinery, and only use the lowest carbon available steel and concrete.

The Lower Thames Crossing received planning permission in March 2025 and is now working with the government on funding options. Construction could start as early as 2026, with the new road expected to open in the early 2030s.