Official opening of the new £8.1 million Advanced Technology and Automotive Centre, Bilston.
Official opening of the new £8.1 million Advanced Technology and Automotive Centre, Bilston.
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00:00We're here with Louise Fall, the Principal of the City of Wolverhampton College.
00:05On the day the official opening takes place of the Purpose-Built Advanced Technology and
00:11Automotive Centre.
00:13Very impressive it is too, around £8.1 million has been spent on this centre.
00:19Just tell us in a nutshell a little bit about it.
00:22So this has enabled us to move our automotive and engineering provision from Padgett Road
00:27campus over to the Wellington Road campus for a Purpose-Built Centre.
00:32It's part of the City Learning Quarter Master Plan and this is the first phase that has
00:36been completed on time and in budget to welcome students earlier this month.
00:41Yep, and we've talked off camera, courses are underway aren't they?
00:47How have students found the new environment?
00:50Those that have studied previously at Padgett Road are overwhelmed with the facilities.
00:54New students have really embraced the facilities that we've been able to provide for them
00:59and we've seen an increase in enrolments, 17% an increase in enrolments for automotive
01:05and over 45% increase for engineering.
01:08So the word is out that we have some fantastic facilities, some great teaching and come here
01:13and study.
01:14And what sort of courses are on offer, I know there's a multitude of courses around automotive
01:20and engineering, what kind of things are they learning?
01:24So people who want automotive will come in and learn from Level 1 to Level 3 courses
01:29and we'll also touch on electric vehicle maintenance as well as part of the curriculum.
01:34From an engine point of view we do a wide range of courses from Level 1 to Level 4,
01:39so people may want to come and train or upskill, some may be employed and want to come back
01:45and do professional development.
01:47And there's also apprenticeship opportunities for both sectors.
01:50Yeah, well as we can see there's some state of the art equipment here, some vehicles next
01:55door as well, we're going to have a look round so we'll let you get on, a busy afternoon
02:00but thank you for talking to us.
02:02We're here with Councillor Stephen Simpkins, the leader of the City of Wolverhampton Council.
02:07It's a great afternoon for Bilston College, the opening of the Automotive Technology and
02:13Automotive Centre.
02:15This is just the start, isn't it really, of the City Learning Quarter Master Plan?
02:20Yeah, this is Phase 1 and it's really important that we do celebrate this monumental achievement.
02:26It's fantastic for Bilston because Bilston is synonymous with engineering and steel,
02:31so I would suggest that everywhere in the world has a bit of steel.
02:35What we want to do is send apprenticeships and people and employees all across the world
02:41as much as they can follow our steel and I think this is the future and we need to
02:45plan for the future and it's really important that we also recognise the partnerships that
02:50have actually delivered this.
02:52Wolverhampton City Council, the College, Combined Authority and many, many other partners to
02:57bring the package of funding in a total of £61 million worth of funding that's building
03:04and paying for futures of our residents and our citizens.
03:07I think it's amazing.
03:09Yeah, and you've partnered as well with the University of Wolverhampton, we see the car
03:13over there for their racing team and it's a great opportunity for youngsters from college
03:20students to the unemployed, isn't it, to get...
03:23And that's the rationale of all we're doing it, but not just the youngsters, we want everybody
03:26at all age groups, if they want the opportunity to change their lives, we've given them that
03:31opportunity and that's what's more important for us, that everybody celebrates, not just
03:36Bilston campus, but the CLQ when it opens in 2025.
03:41Well we've seen in the city centre the steel, the structure's gone up on time, what's the
03:46next stage of the plan?
03:48Well the next stage will be the fit out of obviously, you've seen the firm foundations
03:53moving up there and rising like a phoenix out of the fire, it's absolutely a tremendous
03:59coup for our city and I'm really proud of all the hard work that everyone has done,
04:05not just from the authority, but also the college, you must pay tribute to them, the
04:10ideas that come from the original thing and I have to say that Ian Brookfield was really
04:15the forerunner of this project and it's important that we recognise that as well.
04:20Great vision, good to see, enjoy the rest of the afternoon.
04:24Thank you very much.
04:25We're talking to Kevin Taylor, a lecturer in motor vehicle technology, you've moved
04:30across from Padgett Road to this state of the art campus, how are you enjoying it so
04:34far?
04:35So it's nice being in something so new and crisp, but also a bit daunting in some cases
04:39just because it's so new, typically garages tend to be a bit more oily and greasy but
04:46actually it's nice having it nice and new, it's nice to keep it clean and actually to
04:49have people walk around and show it as well, the industry is moving into pretty much of
04:54a cleaner industry as well, especially with EVs and hydrogen cars coming out, so it's
04:59nice to have that crisp feel to it, it creates wonderful impressions for our learners, they're
05:05coming through and they're thinking that they're going to get a good quality education, which
05:07they are going to as well, and it's nice having the new equipment as well that makes us better
05:14able to deliver higher quality training for these learners as well and apprenticeships.
05:20Well I asked you about this impressive motor behind us, a car, and whether the students
05:24get a chance to work on it, but you say they've actually built it.
05:28They've actually built, yeah we had it as a shell, where they've actually been able
05:33to build the body onto it as well, the students have actually painted it as well, we've even
05:37had them paint the special paint on the top as well, so it should look the part and hopefully
05:45once it's all kitted out and we've got the engine and gearbox in, then it should be raced.
05:49Yeah, where are you going to race it, are you going to race it competitively or not?
05:53I'm not sure at the moment, I think the idea is that it will be competitively raced, but
05:59it's probably about 6-8 months off from now I think at the moment, depending on when we
06:03get stocking for it.
06:05But you're covering the multitude of courses automotive wise aren't you?
06:09Oh yeah, we've covered straight from entry up to level 3, and actually straight all our
06:14learners from entry up to level 3 have actually worked on this car as well, so it's been good
06:18to get everybody involved, even if it's just removing components and then putting other
06:24groups, putting other components back on.
06:26We're here with Richard Parker, Regional Mayor of the West Midlands, at the opening of ATAC,
06:32you're going to do a bit of a speech on the opening, it's a great achievement here isn't it?
06:38It's a fantastic achievement, it's a fantastic investment, and it's a fantastic facility
06:43for the region and particularly for our young people across the region, we've got too many
06:48young people out of work in the West Midlands, we've got twice as many young people out of
06:53work than the national average, and that's blighting the lives of too many of our young
06:57people, so a facility like this, giving the opportunity for young people to access training
07:02and apprenticeships and skills that this region needs is a fantastic thing to do and I'm looking
07:08forward to opening the facility later this afternoon.
07:10And it's a big investment in the city of Wolverhampton isn't it, with more to come in the city centre
07:15the learning quarter?
07:17Yeah it's great, we've got the learning quarter in Wolverhampton that's coming on stream, we've
07:21also got the Green Innovation Corridor, which is one of our investment zones, and we've
07:25got this £50 million facility at the city of Wolverhampton College, all those investments
07:31are investing in our local economy, helping to create jobs and helping to give opportunities
07:36to young people.
07:37OK, we're here with two level 3 engineering students, Toby on the left, Sahil on the right,
07:45we'll start with Toby, you started off at the Padgett Road campus, you've moved to this
07:50impressive new facility, how are you finding it?
07:53The facilities are much better and the environment already seems better, with having new equipment,
07:59new lighting, the building just brings everyone's environment up.
08:04And you're in your second year aren't you?
08:06Yeah, second year.
08:07Yeah, so, and new equipment to be coming in as well, are you looking forward to learning
08:12on that?
08:13Yeah, I'm looking forward to learning on it, there's laser cutters, CNC machines that we
08:17didn't have at Padgett Road, so that'll be good.
08:20Sahil, your thoughts on the new venture, the new area you've come to?
08:26It's exciting to see, because over at our old facility we had lathes and stuff, but
08:31there's so much more equipment that we have now that we didn't have back then, it's just
08:34exciting to see like, there's development happening, that's my main thought.
08:38Does it make the learning easier, the state of the art equipment?
08:42Yeah, I'd say it does, it's, again, I'd say it's just like, exciting for the students
08:47that are actually passionate about engineering, the fact that we do have state of the art
08:51equipment and everything's overall just better, we're in a better environment, does help with
08:55learning a lot.
08:57And how long's your course Toby?
08:59It's a two year course, but obviously we've already done the first year, the second year
09:03is starting now.
09:04What are your plans for afterwards, I know you may be not thinking that far ahead?
09:09Possibly university or an apprenticeship.
09:11And you Sahil?
09:12Ideally I want to work in a tech startup, but before that university, same stuff, engineering.
09:18Okay, well thanks for talking to us today.