A new purpose-built centre for professional construction training in the North East of England is nearing completion.
Northumberland-based entrepreneur, Tony Rutherford of WPR Farms has established Trainbase and invested £350,000 in building the new centre at Burnt House Farm in Bedlington, South Northumberland.
Upon completion the centre will provide accredited training and testing across multiple awarding bodies, including an extensive range of CPCS (Construction Plant Competence Scheme) and NPORS (National Plant Operators Registration Scheme) categories, short courses, street works and Level 2 Plant NVQ’s. The new business has already created four new jobs including two training administrators, a tester and an assessor and it says more will follow.
Tony Rutherford, director & centre manager at Trainbase said: “We identified a gap in the market for a high quality training facility in the North East of England offering the full spectrum of professional accredited courses for the construction and trade industries. After talking to people within the construction industry we discovered many companies send staff outside of the region for this kind of training, and given the large site we have here at Burnt House Farm, we decided this would be the ideal place to establish Trainbase. We believe this is the largest facility of its kind in the North East region and the only one offering the full range of courses in one location, thanks to our outdoor and indoor training facilities on site”
The new training centre is located on a 20-acre site incorporating a 15-acre all weather digging area. The facility comprises a large outdoor training area, as well as office accommodation with training, testing and conference rooms. Mr Rutherford hopes the new centre will attract trainees from a wide range of businesses with training requirements ranging from health & safety and first aid through to plant operations and all aspects of construction.
“The training centre is in a highly accessible location in close proximity to the A1 and we anticipate it will attract trainees from across the North. The high level of interest at this early stage has been extremely encouraging and we are expecting to make contract announcements in April.”
Tony Rutherford, Director & Centre Manager at Trainbase
The new training centre will be launched on 21st April when it is due to be officially opened by Ian Lavery, MP for Wansbeck.
For further information on Trainbase click here
