Solomons Europe shines spotlight on immersive learning venue for the next generation of infrastructure leaders

The Halcyon Club combines NEC expertise, behavioural science and leadership development to strengthen project delivery capability across infrastructure, engineering and construction.

 

A dedicated centre created to help professionals develop leadership and behavioural skills is helping project teams to become more confident and collaborative in delivering complex programmes.

 

In response to growing demand for more effective approaches to professional development, chartered quantity surveying practice Solomons Europe transformed a 26-acre site near Penrith through a multi-million-pound investment, to create The Halcyon Club, an immersive learning environment where NEC capability development sits alongside leadership training, behavioural science and team performance programmes.

 

The facility meets growing demand from organisations seeking more effective alternatives to traditional classroom-based project workshops and training, with participants undertaking NEC Project Manager and Supervisor accreditations at The Halcyon Club achieving first-time pass rates of more than 90%, well ahead of industry averages.

 

Since opening, The Halcyon Club has welcomed professionals from organisations such as Balfour Beatty, BAM Nuttall, Morgan Sindall, Stantec, Altrad and Siemens. This reflects a growing industry focus on developing not only technical and contractual competence, but also the communication, leadership and collaborative behaviours required by modern projects.

 

Drawing on its experience supporting major construction, engineering and infrastructure programmes and from delivering training programmes through The Halcyon Club, Solomons Europe has identified increasing demand for development that goes beyond technical and contractual knowledge alone. 

While NEC4 and collaborative contracting models are now widely adopted across the sector, organisations are increasingly looking for ways to help project teams apply that knowledge more effectively in practice.

Solomons Europe believes this trend is being driven in part by industry-wide skills shortages, which are accelerating promotion cycles and placing greater responsibility on professionals earlier in their careers. As projects become more collaborative and involve increasingly complex stakeholder environments, many organisations are finding a need to place greater emphasis on leadership, decision-making, communication and stakeholder management skills. 

 

The Halcyon Club was established to provide a dedicated environment in which individuals and teams can step away from day-to-day project pressures to focus on personal and professional development. Combining technical learning with behavioural development, programmes help participants explore how they communicate, build trust, respond under pressure and contribute to high-performing teams.

Using recognised approaches including DiSC profiling, Lencioni's Five Behaviours framework and practical NEC capability development, the programmes are designed to help participants strengthen both their contractual understanding and their ability to apply it effectively within project environments.

Dominic Doig, Managing Director of Solomons Europe, said: 

"We've spent many years helping organisations improve commercial and contractual performance, and one of the clearest lessons we've learned is that successful projects ultimately depend on people.

"Most project professionals already understand the technical and contractual requirements of their role. What organisations are increasingly asking for is support that helps individuals become more confident decision-makers, stronger communicators and better collaborators.

"The Halcyon Club was created to provide something different from traditional training. By bringing people together in an immersive environment away from the pressures of live projects, we can create the space for reflection, discussion and behavioural development that helps knowledge translate into real-world performance.

"As collaborative delivery models continue to grow across infrastructure, organisations need professionals who can build trust, resolve challenges constructively and work effectively across project teams and supply chains. These are skills that can be developed and strengthened, and the response we've seen to The Halcyon Club demonstrates just how important they have become."

With collaborative delivery models continuing to evolve across infrastructure, energy, transport and major projects, Solomons Europe expects demand for immersive, behaviour-led learning programmes to continue growing as organisations seek to develop both technical capability and the leadership skills required to deliver successful project outcomes.

To find out more about The Halcyon Club, visit: https://thehalcyonclub.co.uk/