Plans to bring NETA Training to Thornaby have been forged in steel with the structure now in place on the new development.
Members of the team put their indelible mark on ‘the bones’ of the new £14.7m facility during an official signing of the steel event.
“After years in the planning it is incredible to see the centre taking shape in front of our eyes,” said Grant Glendinning, chief executive and group principal of the Education Training Collective (Etc.).
NETA is the engineering training arm of the group, following its merger with Stockton Riverside College in 2015.
With a history spanning five decades of meeting the industrial engineering training needs of the Tees Valley, Grant said: “The desire has long been there to equip NETA with facilities to truly match the passion and expertise of its instructors.
“Today those ambitions have become something very tangible with the two-storey structure we see today.”
The new centre on Princeton Drive, which sits alongside Stockton Riverside College, will include workshops for vocational training in areas including welding, fabrication, electrical, mechanical, pipefitting, as well as domestic and commercial gas training.
Equipping the existing and future workforce with core industrial skills, ready to meet the government’s National Industrial Strategy, from its new site NETA will continue to deliver training to school leavers, apprentices and commercial delegates, working with individual clients and employers wanting to upskill their staff.
The development is one of the priority interventions set to bring long-term change and investment to Thornaby as part of its £23.9 million Town Deal funding.
An investment of £4.5 million through the Thornaby Town Deal Board, delivered in partnership with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, made the centre possible. Further significant funding was secured from the Department for Education and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The project was identified as a priority Town Deal intervention that could bring long-term change and investment by the Thornaby Town Deal Board, a group of key public and private sector stakeholders, including Thornaby councillors and the local MPs.
The development is being delivered by contractor Britcon. Nick Shepherd, Britcon’s managing director, said: “The new NETA Training steel signing event marks another important milestone on one of our flagship regional projects.
“We are proud to be involved with this project, which is being delivered using the Britcon integrated delivery model. This combines the expertise of both our construction and steel businesses, to support high-quality and safe delivery, with collaboration key at all stages.
“A huge thank you to the Britcon team and supply chain for their commitment and professionalism, including facilitating student site visits to support live learning experiences.”
Proud to add his name to the framework, Mark White CBE DL, chair of the Thornaby Town Deal Board and chair of Stockton-on-Tees Strategic Education Board said: “This is a very exciting day for the Town Deal Board.
“As the Board’s chair, I am thrilled to be involved in milestones like this to celebrate an impressive flagship project of the Thornaby Town Deal that will help bring long-term economic growth to the town.”
