Progress made towards building the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Institute of Technology
Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) have been granted permission to begin building the £18M Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Institute of Technology (IoT) on land currently occupied by the College’s construction and skills provision at Palmbourne Industrial Estate on Castle Street, Stafford.
Planning permission to demolish the existing buildings was submitted to the Stafford Borough Council towards the end of 2022 and has now been formally approved, with building work scheduled to begin during late summer.
The College will relocate all current Palmbourne-based provision to a brand new state-of-the-art £28M Skills and Innovation Centre on the Earl Street/Broad Street elevation of its main campus at the end of the current academic year.
The IoT, which has a proposed completion date of December 2024, will bring together key industry, education and research opportunities to the county and will see employers and academia working collaboratively to widen participation in targeted STEM areas. The consortium, led by NSCG, is supported by key education providers and employers including Keele University, Burton and South Derbyshire College, Axia Solutions, Siemens, Moog Aircraft Group, Dell, Hitachi Energy and St Modwen Logistics.
NSCG’s Principal and Chief Executive, Craig Hodgson, said: “We are delighted that the plans have been approved and would like to thank council planners for their support and positive response to our vision.
“We are already making strides in shaping new higher-level technical curriculum in response to the skills needs of our region, and the new building which is set to open in 2024, will give us even greater opportunity to educate and train people in those vital digital, construction and the built environment and health science skills that are so desperately needed by employers.
“We are proud to bring this exciting new facility to the heart of Stafford and excited to see the significant impact it will have on the entire Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire region.”
The IoT will provide advanced manufacturing and engineering qualifications and will see educators and industry working together to jointly design, develop and widen education and training opportunities aligned to the skills needs of employers; the local, regional and national economy; and the priorities for technical education.