University deal for Telford's Southwater
A new university centre will open in a flagship building at Telford's multi-million pound Southwater complex.
The University of Wolverhampton is expanding its presence in the town by taking over the top floor of Southwater One.
The move has been hailed as an opportunity to create better jobs and boost the economy in Telford.
University Centre Telford is expected to open early next year to complement the Telford Innovation Campus at Priorslee.
The new centre in Southwater's iconic golden clad public service building will provide a range of courses. It will also include an advice and information centre for prospective students and a business support function.
The building already holds a public library, which will be available for university students to use.
The University of Wolverhampton sealed the deal with Telford & Wrekin Council and is also in discussions with Telford College of Arts and Technology about being a partner in the venture.
The move builds on Telford's Priorslee campus which has just benefited from a £2 million investment that saw an upgrade to engineering laboratories. There are 500 students based at Priorslee, which has a lecture theatre that can hold 300.
Today's move expands the presence of the University of Wolverhampton in Shropshire and comes as Chester University broadens its role by opening up a campus in Shrewsbury.
Councillor Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin Council's deputy leader, said: "We are delighted to welcome the University of Wolverhampton and this is the final piece of the jigsaw of Phase One of the Southwater development.
"University Centre Telford is a perfect fit for the Southwater development and ties in with the council's commitment to raise skills and aspirations with the ultimate aim of creating more and better jobs for local people and consequently improving the economy."
Professor Geoff Layer, vice-chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton, said: "We're delighted to be expanding our offering in Telford having been in the town for 20 years this year.
"Over the last six months or so we've been looking at expanding the work we do and services we provide across the region as part of our community approach to enhancing skills, raising employability levels and generating economic growth.
"This has seen us open a centre in Stafford and now we are extending a similar approach into Telford. This will complement our campus at Priorslee by offering a central location at the heart of the new Southwater development. Next year we expect to be able to start offering a range of courses based around foundation courses, workplace learning, continuous professional development and education and commercial training.
"We have worked closely with T&WC and are excited to be part of Southwater.
"We are also talking to Telford College with a view to working even more closely with them in the future on this project. As a university we want to provide opportunities to an ever widening audience as well as acting as an anchor and driver of growth."
The university hopes to have the centre open by March next year. It says today's development proves its commitment to Telford, having upgraded its laboratories and equipment at its Priorslee campus as part of a plan to improve its engineering courses.
The university is also developing a range of new undergraduate courses which will be available for the 2015/16 intake.
