Plans unveiled for £3m manufacturing and technology centre

DETAILED plans for a new state-of-the-art training hub in Shropshire have been unveiled to the public.

More than 100 businesses and stakeholders attended the launch event in Bridgnorth for the £3m Marches Centre of Manufacturing & Technology (MCMT).

The MCMT, which is led by a consortium of Classic Motor Cars, Grainger & Worrall, Salop Design & Engineering and training provider In-Comm, will provide a high-tech environment for people to experience the latest technology and talk to engineering experts.

It is all geared towards giving them opportunities to apply their new found skills on real life manufacturing situations.

Supported by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, work will start on fitting out the 36,000 sq ft building on the Stanmore Industrial Estate in January, with plans in place to create dedicated fabrication, foundry, lathe, metrology, milling, robotics and vehicle trimming sections, as well as a specialist CNC Zone and spray booth/mixing capabilities.

There will also be an auditorium lecture theatre, bespoke learning environments, five vehicle ramps and a rolling road test facility.

Matthew Snelson, director of Grainger & Worrall and managing director of the centre, said: “This is one of the most exciting developments seen in manufacturing training provision in the area for many years and yesterday gave us the perfect opportunity to communicate our vision to employers, colleges, universities and future learners.

“We believe the MCMT is critical to closing the skills gap for Shropshire businesses, but we are under no illusions that we will need the rest of local industry, education and training to play their part. This could be through informing how the provision develops, using the services and even offering time and expertise to help with delivering some of the learning.

“There are also plenty of opportunities for businesses to sponsor different learning zones or donate equipment and machinery our learners can train on.”

The centre has received £1.9m of funding from the LEP to bring the concept to reality, with £1.1m of private funding already pledged by the consortium. Additional sponsorship and business engagement will look to bring the budget to over £4m.

It will look to support 2,020 learners between now and 2020; largely involving developing apprentices in advanced manufacturing and engineering to give employers a strong pool of skills to tap into as they continue to compete globally.

In addition to this, there will also be capacity to work with 400 companies on developing existing manufacturing professionals up to Level 7 qualifications, covering business improvement techniques, team leadership, vehicle body repair and paint, vehicle body building, technical development, quality and continuous improvement.

Gareth Jones, managing director of In-Comm, said: “We will be looking to open our doors for office based courses from April 1 and full engineering courses from August 2017. There is a lot of work ahead to equip the centre and build a pipeline of learners who want to be part of something new and exciting.

“There is a lot of engagement planned with Shropshire schools and colleges to get young people thinking about engineering and manufacturing as a career and, it is important to stress, that the MCMT is open to all employers in the area.

“It is the clearest sign yet of the desire to reshore training provision so that local needs are met and there is no doubt we will become an important asset when looking to attract inward investment into the Marches.”

Graham Wynn, chairman of the LEP, said plugging the skills gaps was a priority for the partnership as it looked to helped businesses with their growth ambitions.

“This can only have a positive impact on the economic prosperity of our county,” he said.

The MCMT is one of three Advanced Manufacturing Hubs which are being funded by the Local Growth Fund via the Marches LEP.

Pictured are: Matthew Snelson (Grainger & Worrall), Chris Greenough (Salop Design & Engineering), Bekki Phillips (In-Comm Training), Peter Neumark, Mike Roe (both Classic Motor Cars) and Gareth Jones (In-Comm Training).