Balfour has been working under a Pre-Construction Services Agreement on the job since November 2015.

The campus will take four years to build and employ a workforce of 1,000 at peak construction including multiple apprenticeships and graduate placements.

The project will also create new job opportunities for unemployed local people through the University’s Construction Academy, which provides local residents with exposure to career opportunities in the construction sector.

It will house the University’s Engineering schools, innovative teaching spaces and research institutes such as the Dalton Nuclear Institute and the BP- International Centre for Advanced Materials.

The development will benefit from green construction techniques resulting in smart energy consumption and advanced water recycling and waste systems.

Dean Banks, Balfour Beatty Managing Director, UK Construction Services, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed to construct the MECD, one of the largest single developments ever undertaken by a higher education institution in the UK.

“We have extensive expertise in the higher education sector having delivered schemes such as the Holyrood postgraduate village at the University of Edinburgh, The Diamond building for the Engineering Faculty for the University of Sheffield, and the Foundry Courtyard Student Accommodation Complex in Glasgow.

“Our longstanding expertise enables us to provide The University of Manchester, its staff and students with an iconic campus, in addition to delivering multiple benefits to local communities including job generation and apprenticeship opportunities.”

Diana Hampson, Director of Estates at The University of Manchester, said: “The Manchester Engineering Campus Development will be a world-leading centre for learning and research.

“This development is central to the University’s ten-year Campus Masterplan which is creating an exceptional environment for our exceptional people.

“We are providing state-of-the-art facilities that will rival those of our international competitors and help attract world-class academic talent to the institution.”