Ground Breaking Ceremony – Leicester College Skills Village

Leicester College hosted a Ground Breaking Ceremony on Tuesday 10 February 2014, the celebration marked the start of building the College’s new Motor Vehicle Engineering Centre at its Abbey Park Campus.

The Centre will be the first phase of the Leicester College Skills Village to enable the College to provide its motor vehicle learners with better progression opportunities.

The City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, LLEP Chief Executive Corin Crane and Leicester College Principal Verity Hancock undertook the Ground Breaking Ceremony.

City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby said:

“I am delighted to part of this Ceremony today. The Motor Vehicle Engineering Centre is just the start of a bigger vision that will be the Leicester College Skills Village.

“It is important to see the College grow and continue to support local businesses and employers as well as people who are looking to obtain key skills for employment which in turn will help the local economy.”

Leicester College was awarded funding of £0.64 million in 2015-2016 and a further indicative £1.54 million in 2016-2017 in July 2014 by LLEP (Leicester & Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership).

LLEP Chief Executive, Corin Crane said:

“We have approximately £100 million to spend on regeneration projects such as the Leicester College Skills Village by 2021.”

“A recent skill survey that LLEP completed showed that 45% of local businesses within engineering and manufacturing sectors reported skill shortages, which is having a severe impact on the way they do business. That is why projects like this one are so important for the local economy.”

The new single-storey motor vehicle workshop will incorporate two classrooms and extensive practical facilities for both cars and motorcycles creating 600sq m of workshop space enabling the college to take on additional 100 learners.

Leicester College Principal, Verity Hancock said:

“We have been looking to expand our motor vehicle offering for a very long time.”

“The Centre will enable us to make a big difference to learning for existing and future learners.”

The aim is for the project completed and building open for our learners by September 2015.