GROUND has been broken at the site of The College at Braintree's new £5.6million STEM Innovation Centre.

On Wednesday, the college invited chairman of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SE LEP) Christian Brodie to the site, to cut the first sod at the site.

Due to open in April 2017, the centre will provide training in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in the former gymnasium building at college on Church Lane.

These skills have been directly identified by the Essex Employment and Skills Board and Braintree Council to support the developing needs of the district in the coming years.

For funding the development, the college won a share of £22million in Skills Capital Funding from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership.

The scheme also received a £980k of matched funding from Essex County Council.

Mr Brodie said: “We are pleased to be able to support this scheme which is directly addressing the skills needs of local businesses in these important sectors and will support young people into sustainable local employment routes.”

The centre will incorporate three engineering workshops, two constructions workshops and six other large classrooms - all with state of the art facilities.

Gary Horne, vice principal for finance and corporate development at Colchester Institute, said: “With 24% of all employees in the Braintree District working within the advanced manufacturing and construction sectors, it is vital that we are able to keep pace with demand.

"This phase 1 scheme is a crucial part of our longer term redevelopment plan for the site and we are delighted to see it starting to come to fruition.”

An estimated 44,000 new recruits are likely to be needed in construction related roles in Essex by 2021, some of whom could be trained at the new site.

Tom Cunningham, cabinet member responsible for economic development at Braintree Council, said: “The work we’re doing with The College at Braintree to make sure our young people have the skills which our local businesses need is absolutely vital to our economy.

"More so than ever before our young people will be better placed to begin their working life in one of the many exciting and satisfying careers within our district and help our businesses grow.

"I can think of no better inspiring sight for the South East Local Enterprise Partnership to see as part of the visit to show why Braintree district is a great place to do business.”

For more information about courses at The College at Braintree visit: www.colchester.ac.uk.