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North East firms begin work on Northumberland College's £2.5m STEM Centre

Two North East firms have been appointed by Northumberland College to complete the £2.5m STEM Centre at its Ashington campus.

Summers-Inman, which offers project and cost management services, will work on the scheme with Esh Build, one of Northern England’s largest contractors, to complete the project by next Summer.

The new centre will be home to specialist science and technology workshops with dedicated facilities that will include a class 10,000 clean room, digital 3D imagery equipment, nanotechnology, microscopes, specialist chemicals and fab labs where budding product designers and entrepreneurs can access the latest in digital fabrication equipment for prototyping.

Paul Redman, divisional director of Esh Build, part of Esh Group, said: “The Esh Build team is looking forward to starting work on this exciting project for Northumberland College.

“Building this type of specialist space for the education sector is where our strengths lie. The new Northumberland College STEM Centre will be an asset to the local community.”

Marcus Clinton, Principal and chief executive of Northumberland College, added: “This is a very exciting time for the College and we are very pleased to have appointed Esh Build as the contractors for our STEM Centre who have worked on many major projects around the north.

“The development of this building is very good news for us and for Northumberland, following on from an exceptionally successful year of achievements and outcomes for students.”

The project received £2.3m funding from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s (North East LEP’s) Local Growth Fund.

David Land, North East LEP Board Member, commented: “Access to training and skills is fundamental to delivering our vision of creating more and better jobs for the North East.

“It’s fantastic to see this project come to life; people from across the North East will be able to access training that meets a genuine need in the labour market, and we’re pleased to see it underway.”

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