A £13.6 million centre of excellence for engineering was officially opened on Anglesey by Mark Drakeford — the First Minister of Wales — at the end of March.

Canolfan Sgiliau Technoleg Menai (Canolfan STeM) in Llangefni is Grŵp Llandrillo Menai’s largest capital build to date.

Chief executive Dafydd Evans said: “Our core purpose is to support the economy of North Wales by equipping local people with the skills and qualifications needed to ensure the competitiveness and success of the region.

"As part of this, we have a growth strategy for engineering, and we are committed to promoting development in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) across all our sites in Rhyl, Rhos-on-Sea, Glynllifon, Pwllheli,
Dolgellau and Llangefni.

“With a wealth of employment opportunities expected to be created by energy and infrastructure projects being proposed for North Wales, we identified an opportunity to make Coleg Menai’s Llangefni campus nationally recog-nised for supporting industry.

"This formed part of our overall master-plan for Llangefni, which has seen an overall investment of £20.35 million between 2016 and 2019.”

The disciplines taught at Canolfan STeM include welding, fabrication, automotive (light and heavy), mechanical, electrical, electronic, control and instrumentation, operations and maintenance, aeronautical and plumbing.

Mr Drakeford said: “It was a privilege to officially open Canolfan STeM, which will be a great asset for Anglesey and the wider area. It is crucial that Wales continues to develop a skilled workforce.

"I am particularly pleased that Canolfan STeM will allow its students access to some of those fields essential to our future economic prospects.”