Huntingdon training centre secures £10.5 million in funding

A Huntingdon-based not-for-profit organisation has secured funding of £10.5 million through Growth Deal, which is the funding arm of the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills Nick Boles visited the project site of iMET where a new facility will offer training in advanced technical skills in the fields of technology, engineering, and manufacturing.

Important investment

The iMET training centre will work in conjunction with the LEP, site owners and developers Urban&Civic, Cambridgeshire County Council, Huntington District Council, and regional and local business groups. It will support sustainable growth, give impetus to engineering and manufacturing skills, and support improvement in productivity.

On visiting the project site, Boles said: “I am delighted to see that the LEP has secured this important investment in the skills that businesses need for future growth. The partnership approach behind iMET and the priority on working with businesses to understand their needs is exemplar.”

Delivering skills

The centre is scheduled to open in the summer of 2017 and is being developed by site owners and developers Urban&Civic. It will provide advanced and higher level apprenticeships, short specialist courses, training in digital technology, HNC/HND engineering courses, management courses, and sector leadership.

Commenting on the project, Huntingdonshire Regional College Vice-Principal and Project Sponsor Matthew Brown said: “It will deliver skills that match the needs of employers and the wider economy by offering dynamic and flexible delivery of a range of courses and apprenticeships with the aim of raising the bar in productivity levels.”