As HS2 celebrates apprenticeship milestones, project progress is driving future workforce opportunities.
This year’s National Apprenticeship Week, which ran from 9-15 February, brought together businesses and individuals to shine a light on the impact that apprenticeships make to career-starters, the industry, and the wider economy.
The rail family celebrated with a wide range of activities and new programmes designed to encourage college leavers and graduates to choose rail as a career option. Apprentices from Network Rail, for instance, took part in a team-building event in York organised by the British Army, while Amey delivered a new AI workshop experience, and apprentices based at Siemens Mobility’s Goole Rail Village took part in a scheme where they shadowed members of the senior leadership team.
HS2, meanwhile, had particular cause to honour the occasion, and not only did it open enrolment for this year’s apprentice and graduate intake, but it also celebrated a recruitment milestone.
More than 30 apprenticeship vacancies and 16 graduate roles went live on 9 February as HS2 opened its search for more talented young people to help support the delivery of Britain’s high speed railway.
Five apprentices are being sought to join the project controls and commercial teams within HS2 Ltd, while Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), HS2’s West Midlands construction partner, is recruiting for 26 apprentices across a broad range of business areas.
HS2’s construction partners in London have also announced they are recruiting three new apprentices. Mace Dragados is beginning the search for a logistics apprentice, while Balfour Beatty VINCI SYSTRA (the joint venture building Old Oak Common Station) is recruiting for roles in civil engineering and quantity surveying. In addition, Skanska Costain STRABAG, HS2’s construction partner for the Euston approaches, will be boosting its workforce with 15 new apprentices.
Exceeding goals
This news came shortly after HS2 announced it had exceeded its pre-construction goal of creating 2,000 apprenticeships. In January, HS2 Ltd published data showing that it had welcomed 2,032 new apprentice starts to date. Of those, 99 joined the project between September and December 2025.
Mohammed Sharif, a civil engineering trainee from Birmingham, was named the project’s 2,000th apprentice.
Mohammed, from Bordesley Green, lives just minutes away from the network of viaducts that are being built on the approach to HS2’s new terminus station at Curzon Street. Seeing HS2’s construction from his bedroom window inspired him to explore a career in civil engineering. Now he’s part of the team helping to build HS2 in his home city.
“I knew I wanted to work on HS2, so I applied to University College Birmingham to study for a T-Level in Construction and secured a work placement with HS2’s construction partner, Balfour Beatty VINCI,” Mohammed said.
“I worked hard at college and put 100% into my placement – and it paid off. When I finished my studies, Balfour Beatty VINCI offered me a civil engineering apprenticeship.
“I used to look out of my bedroom window and see all the work taking place on HS2 – now I’m helping to build it. This project is going to open up so many opportunities for young people like me, I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of it.”
Celebrating the achievement, Rebecca Young, HS2 Ltd’s head of Skills, Inclusion and Supply Chain commented: “We welcomed our very first cohort of HS2 apprentices back in 2017, so this year marks our tenth annual intake.
“Hitting the 2,000-apprentice milestone was a huge achievement not just for HS2, but the country as a whole, as we strive to create a specialist talent pool that will deliver the UK’s major infrastructure projects of the future.”
And while apprenticeships are a popular choice for sixth form and college leavers, with no upper age limit, HS2 also welcomes applications from individuals looking for a change of career direction.
“It’s never too late to start a new career and apprenticeships are a brilliant option for those seeking something new,” Rebecca added.
“With fully funded training costs and time allocated for study, there’s never been a better time to consider an apprenticeship.”
In addition to attracting apprentices, HS2 Ltd has also launched a recruitment campaign for its sought-after graduate programme – a two-year course that allows candidates to rotate across different areas of the business. The company has announced that 16 graduate placements will join its engineering, commercial, and project controls teams, with roles based in Birmingham and London.
Furthermore, it has also confirmed that it has reached its goal of supporting 5,000 unemployed people into work. The figure currently stands at 5,645. This comes as a new report from HS2 Ltd – Mind the Skills Gap – shows that the combination of apprenticeships and workless job starts delivered on the project to date is worth £315 million to the UK economy.
As construction progresses from major civil engineering to rail systems installation, the HS2 mega-project will create even more new career opportunities.
Construction milestones
HS2’s recent successes have not been limited to its achievements in recruitment, and last month saw the project meet major milestones underground. While skills development underpins the project’s future, construction progress continues to demonstrate how that workforce capability is being applied.
On 19 January, HS2 Ltd said that civil work on the 16km-long Chiltern tunnel was complete. Main construction of the twin-bore tunnel – each to carry a single track for trains travelling north and south – began in May 2021 with the staggered launch of two 2,000-tonne tunnel boring machines (TBMs) from a site next to the M25 near Maple Cross in Hertfordshire.
Five deep ventilation and access shafts were sunk to depths of as much as 78 metres along its route and completed before the TBMs’ arrival. The machines progressed north at an average speed of 16 metres per day before breaking through near Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, in early 2024.
Since then, work has continued to build the porous extensions to its north and south portals, install its internal walkways, and fit out 40 cross passages.
It is the second of HS2’s five twin-bore tunnels to be structurally complete after the same achievement was marked for the one-mile Long Itchington Wood tunnel in Warwickshire last year.
HS2 Ltd head of civil engineering for Chiltern tunnel, Mark Clapp said: “The team we assembled at HS2 Ltd, and with Align JV – our main civil works contractor – and all its subcontractors, to deliver this part of the new high-speed railway was exemplary. I pay tribute to everyone involved. They can all feel certain that their hard work will stand the test of time.”
HS2’s journey into central London also took a step closer on 27 January after TBM “Madeleine” started its passage from Old Oak Common in the capital’s west, to Euston station.
The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, Darren Jones, and the Rail Minister, Lord Hendy visited Old Oak Common station alongside Mark Wild, chief executive officer of HS2 Ltd, and Andy Lord, Transport for London commissioner, to switch on the 1,624-tonne tunnel boring machine, which will excavate a 4.5-mile tunnel between the two stations.
Lord Hendy said: “It was brilliant to switch on the tunnel boring machine at Old Oak Common today – not just because it’s an engineering marvel – but because it brings HS2’s journey to Euston another step closer to reality.
“We’re putting HS2 back on track, and taking the railway into central London is crucial to unlocking its full potential to deliver more jobs, more homes, and a long-term boost to the whole British economy.”
Taking HS2 to Euston is essential to unlocking the project’s full economic potential, with estimates from Camden Council suggesting a mix of new homes and commercial development at Euston could add £41 billion to the economy by 2053 and support 34,000 new jobs.
The delivery of the Government’s plans for Euston will be taken forward by a new body, the Euston Delivery Company. Once established, the Company will lead delivery of an affordable and integrated transport hub along with commercial development across the Euston campus.
Building for the future
Taken together, HS2’s progress in recruitment and delivery illustrates the wider impact major infrastructure programmes can have beyond the assets they create. The project has not only provided employment and training opportunities at scale, but has also helped to cultivate the skills base required for future national infrastructure delivery.
While the physical railway remains under construction, its legacy is already well established – a growing cohort of trained professionals whose experience reflects the scale, ambition, and technical demands of building Britain’s high-speed future.
For more information about the apprentice and graduate roles with HS2 Ltd visit: hs2.org.uk/careers/careers-with-hs2-ltd
Image credit: HS2
