Apprentice training centre unveiled

The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Training Centre is due to be completed next autumn and will be part-funded by a £9.2m Regional Growth Fund grant.

Yesterday, Mr Clegg revealed plans for the centre, including its paid apprenticeships for up to 250 students who will also have the opportunity to progress on to postgraduate courses.

Professor Keith Burnett, vice-chancellor of Sheffield University, said: “What we are doing to regenerate our region and to regenerate UK manufacturing is wasted if our research and equipment is not matched by skilled people.

“We need young people ready to accept the jobs we create and to take the UK forward.

“Together with colleagues from Rolls-Royce and Boeing, as well as with over 70 companies in the engineering supply chain, our partnership has shown that this region is a world-class hub for advanced manufacturing.

“We are not just creating knowledge and manufacturing breakthroughs. We are creating the skilled workers at all levels who will secure this for the future.

“This is the crucial next step in the wonderful work here at the AMRC.”

Mr Clegg added: “It’s a collaboration which I hope will really become an absolutely first rate way of getting people trained up with skills for the jobs in the future.”

The centre will be based in a new 5,500 sq m building at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Catcliffe, between Sheffield and Rotherham.

It will provide tailored courses of practical and academic skills, from apprenticeship through to doctorate and MBA level. About 250 people will enter each year for apprentice training.