Construction careers are the height of fashion

Pupils from Chorlton High School, and school leavers from other schools, improved their prospects for a career in construction at the Gallery of Costume in Platt Hall, Platt Fields Park last week.

Platt Hall, which is owned and run by Manchester City Council, dates back to 1764 and houses the Gallery of Costume, which has one of the leading costume collections in the UK featuring couture pieces from the likes of Dior, Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent. It is currently closed for major refurbishment, so the careers' day was a unique behind the scenes tour of the building works in progress for the lucky pupils who attended.

The Grade II* listed building is currently undergoing a complete rewiring of the building, the renewal of the heating system, the installation of a large lecture/meeting room for students and visitors as well as the creation of new exhibition space to host temporary exhibitions.

The pupils took part in interactive construction exercises hosted by Parkinson Building Contractors with the support of Manchester Chamber and Construction Skills to learn about how a heritage building project of this scale is carried out.

Councillor Mike Amesbury, Executive Member for Culture and Leisure at Manchester City Council said: "This was a wonderful opportunity for those considering a career in construction to come and see the work in progress. The Gallery of Costume is an extremely important building to the city and Platt Hall is a significant part of its architectural heritage. There is some magnificent work taking place within the Gallery of Costume, which hopefully inspired the pupils who attended on the day."

The Gallery was created in 1947, when Manchester City Council raised the funding to acquire a major private collection of costume, which was thus saved for the benefit of Mancunians and visitors to the city.

Added to over the last 60 years, it is now one of the largest collections of clothing and fashion accessories in Britain, containing over 25,000 items from the 17th century to the present day.

The one million pound investment being ploughed into the Gallery will enable it to open to visitors three days a week and make the collection more widely accessible. Work will be completed on the building in time for the park's centenary celebrations next spring.