"IMPORTANT" and "tangible" milestones for skills development in Cumbria start this week with the opening of an exciting new technology centre in Barrow.

Autumn's arrival will see a range of new facilities will be opening their doors, thanks in part to investment through Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership.

The official opening of the £4m Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Centre at Furness College, in Barrow, takes place this Friday, while students at the University of Cumbria will this term be taking advantage of extended laboratory facilities to support science, technology, engineering and maths disciplines.

Also constructed in readiness for the new academic year is the new sheep husbandry training centre at Newton Rigg College, and the Advanced Manufacturing Centre at Carlisle College will become operational this term too, with a keen focus on the food and drink sector. Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership director Graham Haywood said: “The next few weeks see some important, tangible milestones for skills development in Cumbria, with the investments we have made helping training providers across the county to increase capacity and extend their offer.

“This county is set to offer 56,000 new job opportunities in the next five years as our economy diversifies.

“All of these new developments coming on stream this autumn are vital mechanisms for ensuring that we meet the growing demand locally for highly-skilled workers, and that our workforce here has the appropriate skill sets to fill those new jobs.”

Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership has invested more than £3m in total across these developments, with funding drawn from Regional Growth Fund resources.

The Advanced Manufacturing Centres in Barrow and Carlisle are the first of their kind in Cumbria, with state-of-the-art training facilities designed to give students access to the latest high-tech equipment and machinery. The University of Cumbria’s new STEM labs at the Fusehill Campus in Carlisle have been brought on stream to ensure that greater numbers of students can study for degree-level qualifications in science subjects in Cumbria.

Newton Rigg College’s sheep husbandry centre at Low Beckside Farm, Mungrisdale, will be a national showcase for the best hill farming practice, ensuring young people have the key skills they need as the industry's future workforce. The college also opened a dedicated overhead power line engineering training centre earlier this year in partnership with SPIE to tackle the industry’s skills gap.

Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership has published an ambitious Skills Investment Plan to improve skill levels, increase the county’s workforce and assist employers.

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