£5.5m training centre to launch careers of next generation of engineers
A £5.5m training centre will launch the engineering careers of more than 60 young learners when it opens for business on 29 August.
The new arrivals at the building at Pioneer Business Park in Stallingborough will be among 250 taking up courses at three sites owned and operated by Humberside Engineering and Training Association (HETA).
The centre is purpose-built and provides facilities for electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, fabrication and welding, with an IT suite, classrooms and meeting rooms.
t is at the heart of North East Lincolnshire Council’s £42m South Humber Industrial Investment Programme (SHIIP) area, which is being promoted as a major industrial development opportunity.
Iain Elliott, HETA’s chief executive, said: “This is the culmination of about nine years of thought, discussion and planning – and more than a few sleepless nights.
“We couldn’t have picked a worse time to build it. We exited Covid, the war started in Ukraine, material costs were soaring and supply of materials and labour were an issue. But we were only two weeks late and we were on budget.
“What we have now done with this last piece of the jigsaw is transform HETA’s real estate across the Humber region.
“We have a set of training centres that provide the best learning and working environment for young people, people coming in to do adult courses and for our own staff. It’s important to give them the best working environment.
“It’s a £5.5m investment in the future of engineering training in North East Lincolnshire and beyond.
“It’s for those people who are coming out of school and want to take engineering as a
career and for employers who need that skilled labour coming through.
“We know young people are now seeing apprenticeships and engineering and other technical trades as a viable alternative to university.”
Dean Miles, assistant maintenance lead with SSE at Keadby Power Station, said: “It’s a great facility. It has good-size classrooms, a good workshop environment and it’s as close as you are going to get to the real thing.
“It’s also a good location because there is so much industry along the banks of the Humber and what better resource can a business have than a centre like this right on their doorstep?”
Steve Ellis, electrical instrumentation engineer, Prax Group, added: “I came to the new facility during the build and it’s very impressive.
“It’s a world leading centre and it’s just a few miles from our site so easy for us to drop in. It will be interesting to see what it’s like when it’s full of learners. That’s when it will come alive.”