New centre aims to stop talent draining from area

Future generations will benefit from a new technology training centre which could also stop youngsters heading elsewhere to find jobs or education, college staff say.

The new state-of-the-art centre will be based at one of Telford College's campuses and is expected to create 205 new places for 16-19 year olds.

The government is putting £4.7m towards the new centre which will allow courses such as manufacturing, robotics, and drone tech to be run there.

"Generations are going to benefit from this," said Sarah Davies, who is in charge of the college's employer engagement.

"It's not just the immediate [intake], it's going to be their children and their children's children too."

She added that the new facility would allow young people to "stay local, and stay in Telford".

Too often youngsters leave their hometowns in search of education or jobs, she explained, adding that "once they leave the county, it's unlikely they're going to return."

The new centre, though, means "we can upskill and retrain locally," she said.

Davies added that "more and more manufacturing and engineering companies [are] moving in [to the area]."

The project will also have £925,000 invested in it by the college and see an existing building refurbished, rather than built from scratch.

The centre is expected to have modern laboratories and computer design suites - and be fully open by September 2028.

"Most of the big industries here, they're crying out for engineering skills, for advanced manufacturing skills, for automation skills, use of digital technologies, AI and so on," Lawrence Wood, the college's principal, said.

Students would get training in order to achieve mainly technical qualifications in job sectors where there was employment, he added

For those over the age of 18, "there will also be day courses and night classes - so it's a real opportunity for growth," Wood said.

The scheme would also create opportunities for young people who do not fit into a traditional academic pathway, he added.

"I think it's really challenging being a young person at the moment," he said.

"Not all young people want to go to university."

Andy Turner, the college's faculty director for technical industries, said "it's going to be really exciting".

The investment from the government would "supercharge" the college's capacity for students and learning, Turner said.

The details of the new centre will be music to the ears of Prime Minister Andy Burnham who wants technical education "on an equal footing" to traditional academic pathways.

His plan is to have colleges and universities working with employers and local leaders to tailor training courses and apprenticeships around the needs of local industries and growth sectors – a bit like the employment framework he launched in Greater Manchester in 2024 when he was mayor.

But councils in Shropshire are a long way off from collaborating under a combined authority, usually led by a mayor, which provide the leadership structure and resources to oversee skills, training and economic development.

Until then, it is hard to see how local authorities, education providers and the county's business community could unite in the same way.

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