Integrated building solutions firm J Tomlinson has begun work on a new school being built in Burton-on-Trent.

The £5 million school will have space for 420 pupils when it is completed in 2018.

REAch2 Academy Trust – which already sponsors the nearby Scientia Academy - has been chosen by the Department for Education to run the new primary free school being built near Henhurst Ridge.

Representatives from REAch2, along with Staffordshire County Council, Entrust, the Education and Skills Funding Agency, and J Tomlinson visited the site to officially mark the start of construction.

Martin Gallagher, managing director (construction) of J Tomlinson, said: “As a contractor with wide experience of building educational facilities, J Tomlinson is very pleased to have been appointed to construct Henhurst Ridge Primary School through the Staffordshire framework. It is always an exciting time when work starts on a new build project and we look forward to handing over the completed development in due course.”

The project is the latest in J Tomlinson’s education portfolio, which includes school, college and university schemes.

Nottingham-based J Tomlinson, which was founded in the 1950s and employs around 420 people, works primarily across the East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire. The company provides a range of integrated building services including construction, refurbishment, repairs and maintenance, mechanical and electrical services (M&E), and facilities management.