CyrusOne and UTC Heathrow came together to celebrate the opening of a brand-new, multi-sports court at the UTC Heathrow campus.

The opening celebration, attended by Councillor Becky Haggar-Kaikitis, Mayor of Hillingdon, MP David Simmonds CBE Conservative MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, and Andrew Riley, Residents Association Chairman of the London Borough of Hillingdon, welcomed the opening of the much-anticipated multi-sports court within the college setting.

The court, designed and built by local companies Apt Architects and PhoenixME and funded by CyrusOne, can accommodate a variety of sports including basketball, football, volleyball and badminton.

The development comes as an extension of CyrusOne’s partnership with UTC Heathrow and the creation of the Digital Futures program last year to help bridge the digital skills gap in the data centre industry.

Designed to help address the data centre industry’s long-term skills gap, the Digital Futures program curriculum is aimed at giving secondary-school aged students essential knowledge and skills, and a vocational head start, for a technical career in the sector.

“It was CyrusOne’s great pleasure to partner with the UTC Heathrow to develop the first course in the UK focused on building the essential knowledge and skills needed to thrive in technical careers within the data centre sector. Our industry is experiencing unprecedented growth, but our biggest challenge is the skills gap – the shortage of qualified people and the shortage of people who want to get qualified to manage the growth of this critical industry”, says Matt Pullen, EVP and Managing Director – Europe at CyrusOne.

“Having spent time at the UTC Heathrow over the last couple of years, it struck me how incredible the staff, students and educational facilities were, but how few sporting facilities or outdoor recreation spaces there were on-site for students. The positive benefits of exercise and outdoor space to improve concentration and focus on learning as well as supporting mental health are well documented, and as such we felt compelled to improve the facilities where we could for these talented and committed young people.”

Wayne Edwards, Executive Principle, UTC Heathrow adds, “We are proud of the relationships that we have built with employers and the way that this has now led to us being able to offer our students something that they really needed. We have students here today that are excited to play and motivated to work together as part of a team”.

MP David Simmons CBE, Conservative MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner says, “We know that the digital economy is creating roles that hadn’t even been thought of when this setting was established more than a decade ago. The fact that companies like CyrusOne are coming into this space to help young people to take advantage of those opportunities is such a positive for our local economy and an opportunity for us to further improve the life chances of our young people across the country”.

Councillor Becky Haggar-Kaikitis, Mayor of Hillingdon adds, “The London Borough of Hillingdon recognise the importance of all growth in our younger generation. We are delighted that a new multi-sports court at UTC has been unveiled. This will provide our young adults with enhanced skills ranging from physical fitness, cognitive strategies and will increase team players skills. Congratulations to UTC and CyrusOne working in partnership for our future generation, bridging the digital skills gap”.

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