A brand new, £58million further education and training facility is now set to go ahead after funding was approved by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.
The Nottingham City Hub will be the flagship campus of Nottingham College – formed by the merger of New College Nottingham and Central College in June 2017 – and it is set to be one of the largest further education institutions in the UK.
The City Hub’s £58million cost is due to be covered by an £18million loan from Nottingham City Council, College funds and £30million from D2N2, which formally agreed the funding today (March 29).
D2N2 is the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire area. It works with its areas skills and training providers, businesses, local authorities, and community and voluntary sector organisations to create jobs and boost the economy. As part of this, D2N2 works to resolve the ‘skills gap’; – the issue of older workers retiring, with no-one of a sufficient skill level to replace them.
As part of its overall mission to boost the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire economy, D2N2 has an allocation of over £250million in Local Growth Funding (LGF) from Government. This is used to co-invest in projects across the D2N2 area which create jobs, improve infrastructure and attract investment.
LGF projects are submitted to the D2N2 Infrastructure and Investment Board, which approves part-funding for projects that have a clear and concise business plan and are set to deliver against criteria such as job creation and private sector investment. The D2N2 Infrastructure and Investment Board also monitors each approved project’s progress against its targets.
To date, D2N2 has allocated £178million of its LGF allocation to projects across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, including £10.3million as part of the £250million developments around Nottingham Station and the Broadmarsh area, – which includes the pedestrianisation of Station Street and also the ongoing demolition of the Broadmarsh car park and bus station. It is hoped that both of these projects – and the now-approved City Hub – will help to enhance the ‘Southern Gateway’ area of the city.
The Nottingham City Hub is set to be built on a site next to the tram bridge on Canal Street and Middle Hill. The building will be home to around 2,000 students; for business, admin and computing, travel and tourism, science provision, some creative provision, catering and hospitality, care and early years courses and more. It will also house a new café, new training restaurant, performance theatre and business hub; so that businesses will co-exist alongside the College. Work on the City Hub is due to start this summer (2018) and should be ready to welcome its first students in September 2020.
Matthew Wheatley, D2N2 LEP Chief Executive, said: “The Nottingham City Hub has the potential to change the face of further education in the D2N2 area. By working to ensure that the qualifications provided and the students who study at the college are fit for industry, the Nottingham City Hub will play a full and meaningful role in the growth of the D2N2 economy.”
John van de Laarschot, Nottingham College Chief Executive, added: “We are delighted to be able to agree funding for the new Nottingham College City Hub with D2N2 today. It is our aim to bring to Nottingham something truly special, something more than a traditional college campus and which is a unique space in which business and education co-exist to the benefit of both.
“With the College’s plans for its other centres of excellence across the City, Nottingham College will be one of the biggest and best-resourced education and training institutions in the country. We’re confident that these plans will benefit not just our students, who deserve a first class learning environment, but also local businesses and the wider community.”
For more information on D2N2’s work to improve skills in its area, visit website www.d2n2lep.org/skills
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