Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) announces St. Modwen Logistics as Institute of Technology’s newest strategic partner

St. Modwen Logistics, one of the UK’s leading logistics developers and managers, is the latest partner to join the NSCG-led consortium of education providers and employers from across the Midlands to form the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Institute of Technology (IoT) development.

The £16M IoT will bring together key industry, education and research opportunities to the county and will see employers and academia working collaboratively to widen participation in targeted STEM areas.

With a focus on education and technical training in the construction, engineering, manufacturing, digital and health sectors, St. Modwen Logistics will provide further opportunities for learners to develop skills in the specialisms of the built environment, sustainability and innovation.

Speaking on the partnership, Polly Troughton, Managing Director of St. Modwen Logistics, said: “At St. Modwen Logistics we are passionate about nurturing the next generation of talent to support our rapidly growing industry and becoming one of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Institute of Technology’s key employer partners underwrites our commitment to supporting jobs and skills.”

St. Modwen Logistics will now work in partnership with NSCG and other education providers and key employers including Keele University, Burton and South Derbyshire College, Axia Solutions, Siemens, Moog Aircraft Group, Dell and Hitachi Energy to jointly design and develop education and training opportunities aligned to the skills needed by employers both locally, regionally and nationally.

“The opportunity to work with the IoT to help shape the curriculum means we will be able to equip students with the development and construction skills needed to support this growth and play our part in creating a high-wage, high-skill economy in the region,” added Troughton.

Jason Lancaster, Director of Institute of Technology and Employer Partnerships, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have St. Modwen Logistics join us as a core partner at the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Institute of Technology.

“St. Modwen Logisitics’ extensive experience of developing and supporting the operation of commercial properties brings a unique perspective to the work we are doing around technical construction professions, commercial development and advanced logistics operations and will give our future students the opportunity to gain valuable new insights into these exciting and rapidly expanding fields.

“We look forward to a long and successful working relationship.”

This latest announcement comes as NSCG confirmed that a key piece of land has been secured as a major part of the plans to build the £16M IoT facility.

Contracts were recently exchanged on Palmbourne Industrial Estate, Castle Street, which is currently occupied on a leasehold basis by NSCG Stafford College. The College is expected to relocate its Construction and Engineering facilities from Palmbourne Industrial Estate to a brand new state-of-the-art facility on the Earl Street/Broad Street elevation of its main campus in June 2023, which will pave the way for the existing Palmbourne buildings to be demolished to make way for the new IoT.

Scheduled to open in 2024, the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire IoT will eventually become one of just 21 IoTs across the country.

Commenting on this development, Jason Lancaster added: “We are thrilled to have secured the land on Palmbourne Industrial Estate and are pleased that our ambitious plans for the new Institute of Technology will form part of the wider reformative Stafford Gateway project.

“We are at an early stage of our journey at present, but we are excited about the opportunities that the Institute of Technology will bring to the region. This facility will provide accessible routes to higher-level study in engineering, digital, construction and health sciences to benefit learners across Staffordshire and beyond.

“We look forward to working closely with Stafford Borough Council and all of our key stakeholders to transform our vision in to reality.”