More than 40 young people have signed up to be among the first cohort of students at the Marches Centre of Manufacturing & Technology (MCMT), following a recent Open Day.

The £4 million ‘state of the art’ training hub in Bridgnorth opened its doors to give young people, their parents and employers the opportunity to see how they can benefit from this ambitious venture, which aims to provide ‘2,020 learning opportunities by 2020’.

Ron Whittle, the Mayor of Bridgnorth, joined more than 500 visitors at the centre, which is being run by a consortium of Classic Motor Cars, Grainger & Worrall, In-Comm Training and Salop Design & Engineering.

He praised the four companies for joining forces in a bid to solve the county’s critical skills gap and commented on the amount of new technology that will soon be installed.

Matthew Snelson, managing director of the centre, said: “This was the first time we’d been able to showcase what we are doing in the nearly finished building, and the response was fantastic.

“We had lots of school pupils keen to explore a possible career in engineering and manufacturing. Once they spoke to In-Comm about the training opportunities and saw the machines we were putting in, 40 of them signed up on the spot.

“I think we’ve captured the imagination with this venture, where a company-led approach is harnessing public-sector funding to create apprenticeships and up-skilling opportunities that will make a real difference to firms in the county.”

The Open Day featured 11 employer stands; the companies represented included ABB Robotics, Engineering Technology Group and Hexagon Metrology.