Work nears completion on School of Medicine

Anglia Ruskin celebrates topping-out ceremony for new £20million facility.

A topping-out ceremony was held at Essex’s first School of Medicine to mark the last beam being placed on the top of the £20million facility at ARU.

Building work by Willmott Dixon is due to finish in the summer and the first cohort of undergraduates to study Medicine in Essex will begin their studies in September. The ‘topping-out’ ceremony is a builder’s tradition going back several centuries, and Professor Iain Martin, Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, opened the champagne to celebrate the occasion, attended by MPs Priti Patel and Vicky Ford, representatives from health trusts, local Government, and staff from both Willmott Dixon and Anglia Ruskin.

Professor Martin said: “We have had the most amazing range of support to be able to do this in a very short period of time. On behalf of Anglia Ruskin, I want to extend our thanks to national and local politicians, planners, supporters, primary care groups, clinical commissioning groups, hospitals and everyone we have worked with who have been behind our vision. “This is the next milestone and it is wonderful to celebrate this.”

Clare Panniker, Chief Executive of Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust and Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“It has been a real pleasure to have been included and involved from the beginning and as we celebrate another significant milestone, the reality of attracting, training and hopefully retaining the next generation of clinicians in Essex is within our sights. I think I speak for all of us assembled when I say it is an honour, a privilege and hugely exciting as we anticipate the next steps when this incredibly impressive building will be officially handed over and is ready to receive the first cohort of students before the end of the year.”

Councillor Roy Whitehead, Leader of Chelmsford City Council, said:

“I am delighted that this project is close to completion. Chelmsford has always been a centre of technological advancement and the new School of Medicine, along with the world-leading research already being undertaken by Anglia Ruskin University, puts the city at the forefront of medical education in our region. “Chelmsford City Council is proud to have supported the development of the new school, which will soon be producing the doctors of the future.”