Work starts on new £12m TTE training centre

CONSTRUCTION work has officially got under way on a brand new £12m centre for leading workforce training provider TTE Technical, part of the Middlesbrough College Group.

Chair of Governors, Robert Davies, was on hand to cut the first sod on the site at Middlehaven, central Middlesbrough.

The new facility, which is due to open in September 2024, will train over 300 full-time students, 300 apprentices and 500 adults each year, alongside a thriving international cohort of students.

The state-of-the-art centre is being built by Morgan Sindall Construction and will provide over 3,000 sq m of space over two storeys.

Its facilities will include:

• 7 Large multifunction/multidiscipline workshops to provide for Instrumentation, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Mechanical, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Process Engineering and Net Zero Low Carbon Technology Workspaces
• 7 breakout classrooms and study spaces
• Large Conference Room and staff workspaces
• Student social and welfare areas

The new centre is being built to sustainable design principles with features including a full photovoltaic solar roof. It also offers easy access to wider campus facilities and transport links.

The project was awarded via the Pagabo Medium Works Framework.

Zoe Lewis, principal and chief executive of Middlesbrough College Group, said: “This day has been almost three years in the planning since we started looking at options for the refurbishment or relocation of the current TTE facility at South Bank.

“Our new facility will enable TTE to continue providing high quality engineering and process operations training to a wide range of learners for decades to come, with the right industrial skills and behaviours to easily transition into the workplace.”

Courses which will be hosted at the new centre will include a range of programmes for school leavers, adults, employers and international students.

Subject specialisms at the site will include Mechanical Engineering, Electrical, Instrumentation, Process, Wind Turbine, and Laboratory courses.

The centre will help TTE continue to provide high quality TTE apprenticeship programmes to a wide range of employers across the North East.

Short courses it will host will include Electrical Safety, Hydraulic Systems, Virtual Process Control Room Operations, Safety Passport, Leadership and Management and many more.

Zoe Lewis said: “Once complete, the facility will complement the already extensive STEM offer at our campus in Middlehaven and cement the college as one of the UK’s largest Engineering training providers in the country with state of the art, ‘real scale’ industrial equipment and industrial specialist staff, which will support the region’s existing and emerging businesses.

“We’re particularly pleased that the new site will also allow us to expand into new sectors such as clean, green and renewable energy, retrofit, zero carbon and offshore high voltage, securing technical skills that are in demand and valued by local employers and giving young people greater access to the careers which will shape all our futures.”

The development is being financed by a combination of grant support from the Department for Education’s FE Capital Transformation Fund, Middlesbrough Council alongside College cash reserves and borrowings.

Rob Davies said: “It gives me great pleasure to start the development of what will be a crucial part of Middlesbrough College’s estate.

“TTE already provides essential training and key skills across a wide range of different sectors and the new building will enable it to do even more.”

Alex Isted, area director from Morgan Sindall Construction, who was also present at the ceremony, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Middlesbrough College to deliver this exciting new training centre from our North East business.

“The training that will be delivered at this facility when complete will help create a skilled workforce for the sectors that will be instrumental in net-zero targets being reached. We share this approach within our own sector of construction, and throughout the build programme we will deploy our Intelligent Solutions approach to reduce carbon wherever possible.

“It was a privilege to welcome along the Chair of Governors and other key stakeholders to our site to celebrate a key milestone for our work on this new centre for TTE. As the project progresses, we look forward to engaging with the college and local community further, creating employment and training opportunities working with local schools to demonstrate the fantastic opportunities a career in construction offers.”