£4 million engineering training centre complete in Worcestershire

A £4 million centre of engineering has now been completed by the Heart of Worcestershire College (HoW College).

The Duckworth Centre of Engineering has been built to help meet the local need for engineers with a focus on automotive, plumbing and heating engineering students; with dedicated workshops and classrooms on site.

Cecil Duckworth was the founder of Worcester Bosch, which has grown into one of the city's most successful businesses. He is also Life President of Worcester Warriors.

The Duckworth Centre of Engineering is one of the Worcestershire LEP’s Local Growth Fund projects receiving a total investment of £4.01 million.

This is a multi-site project, and the first phase ‘new-build’ engineering centre was officially opened in October 2019 by Cecil Duckworth CBE, and since opening it has been successful in supporting over 200 students through the new state of the art facility.

Phase 2 of the project has also been completed. This saw new equipment being implemented at the centre, refurbishment to a number of other college campuses and the development of new training courses such as T-levels programmes.

HoW College is now able to use the new 15,000 square foot site, training programmes and equipment to help train and upskill more engineers in the county. This in turn will help to meet current shortfall and expected future growth in demand for engineers.

Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government, Luke Hall MP said: “I am delighted work has now completed on the Duckworth Centre of Engineering, a significant milestone which will support the Heart of Worcestershire College to train and upskill the next generation of engineers.

“We have invested over £4 million in this project through the Local Growth Fund - an important example of this Government’s commitment to levelling up skills, training and education in every part of the country.”

Deputy Chief Executive and Vice Principal, Corporate and Resources, Nicki Williams, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that work is now complete on our new engineering facilities at HoW College.

“In addition to the centre, we’re excited to welcome students back to our newly refurbished Cathedral building, from September, which has allowed us to increase our traditional engineering facilities as well as creating enhanced spaces for 3D printing, robotics, and electronics, as well as housing our state-of-the-art Mazak machines.”

Gary Woodman, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “After attending the official opening and tour of the new Duckworth Centre for Engineering in October 2019, I am proud to see that the second phase of the project has now been completed too. The refurbishment, new equipment and training courses are all vital parts in helping to train the county’s future workforce and provide the engineers of tomorrow.”