What happened

Graham has been appointed by Gamuda Land UK to deliver a £45m purpose built student accommodation scheme at 14 Marshgate Lane in Stratford, east London, Construction Enquirer and Construction News reported this month. The development will provide 321 student bedspaces in a mix of cluster accommodation and self contained studios, between Stratford High Street and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with Pudding Mill Lane DLR station around 100 metres from the main entrance. Amenities will include shared kitchens, dining and social space, a gym and games rooms. At ground level, 294 sq m of commercial space is set aside for artists' studios and workspace, and Graham will also build a new road and improve pedestrian and cycle access on the northern side of the site.

Why it matters

Purpose built student accommodation has kept building through a period when plenty of other residential schemes stalled on viability. Investors like the sector because UK student numbers remain high and existing stock is ageing or in the wrong places, and London boroughs like Stratford, close to universities and with strong transport links, are exactly where developers want to be. For contractors, PBSA schemes are smaller and faster than a major mixed use tower, which makes them a useful bridge for firms managing a lumpy order book between bigger jobs. Graham has been building a presence in London residential and mixed use work, and a win like this shows the sector still has appetite even as housebuilders elsewhere trim their plans.

What it means for your career

PBSA is a good training ground for site managers and project managers who want responsibility on a contained scheme before stepping up to something larger: the building types, M&E coordination and fit out sequencing are similar to build to rent and hotel work, so time on a scheme like this travels well across sectors. London and the wider south east remain the strongest market for PBSA roles, and demand sits mainly with regional contractors like Graham rather than the handful of national names chasing the largest towers, so mid tier firms are often a faster route to responsibility than a major contractor graduate scheme. If your CV has fit out, residential M&E or multi occupancy cladding and fire safety experience, this is a sector worth flagging specifically, because the compliance bar on multi occupancy buildings has only gone up since Grenfell and clients are paying for people who know it cold.