The £2.5 million joint venture between Central Bedfordshire College and South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership will house professionally equipped state-of-the-art workshops for the engineering, construction, motor vehicle and aerospace industries.
Set for completion in July with the first students using the facility in September, the event marked a key milestone in the construction of the site. Key stakeholders including Hone-All's Andrea Rodney, The Right Honourable Andrew Selous MP, who is a champion for skills development and representatives of British Aerospace Engineering turned out to demonstrate their support for the project that is designed to support the growing skills needs of the area.
As part of the Hone-All participation, Andrea Rodney has been sitting on the advisory panel to develop and decide upon the layout, structure and equipment required to best support students for life in industry and matching it with the demands of local employers.
As Hone-All's Andrea Rodney says: "We already have an apprentice at the college who has just passed his Level 3 engineering qualification. It is vital for industry to play a pivotal role with technical colleges and universities to develop the engineers of tomorrow. It is the input from businesses like Hone-All that will help to bridge the skills gap between academia and industry by inputting our industrial expertise and guidance to ensure course material is relevant to the needs of manufacturers."
Principal Ali Hadawi CBE said: “The close involvement from industry means our students will gain industry relevant skills that they can take forward to university or employment in any number of companies in the local area.”
Applications are open for courses starting in September 2017.
