A £4.3 million gateway to the future Access to skilled jobs from apprentices to degree-level roles is a step nearer due to the opening of the Connolly Centre for Modern Construction (CCMC) at Bedford College. The shiny £4.3 million net carbon building was funded by regional agency South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) with a contribution of £2.9 million, alongside £750,000 donated by the Connolly Foundation towards the very latest construction equipment inside the building. The Wixamtree Trust also donated £10,000. The Centre was opened by Mark Farmer, the Government’s champion of Modern Methods of Construction, on Wednesday 20th October. The Connolly Centre for Modern Construction houses some highlyspecialised equipment where up to 100 students will train for jobs, or upgrade their existing skills to match up to emerging ‘modern methods of construction’. Ian Pryce CBE, CEO of The Bedford College Group: “We are closing that gap which we see between what happens in industries, and what is taught in college.” Mark Farmer congratulated Ian and the team from the Group for their vision in building the dream facility: “This facility will be helping to re-shape how we deliver construction in the future. It meets the Government agenda for skills and sustainability and I can see it being an exemplar for the rest of the country. “Leadership has made this possible with Ian and The Bedford College Group being well placed to support the demand for skills in London and the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.” Judith Barker, Director of SEMLEP, congratulated the Group and said this was a pioneer in such construction training buildings planned.
Photo shows Mark Farmer officially opening the Connolly Centre for Modern Construction Included within the Centre is some of the most state-of-the-art equipment: • Howick Frama 5600 metal profiling machine to produce metal components ready for self-assembly (largest investment in college construction training equipment *) • An industry standard gantry crane to lift components of up to 3.2 tonnes • JJ Smith automated cross cut and sliding saw The Centre also includes a computer-aided design (CAD) suite linked to the Virtual Reality “cave”, also funded by the Connolly Foundation in the Advanced Engineering Buchanan Centre. *https://bedfordcollegegroup.ac.uk/about/ news/see-into-the-future-with-virtualreality/