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Wakefield College welcomes Coca Cola Site Director to new ASIC

Thursday, 26 January, 2017

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CCEP Site Director (left) is given an early look at the what the new Advanced Skills and Innovation Centre will look like

Wakefield College welcomed Coca Cola European Partners (CCEP) Site Director Trevor Newman to view progress on the College’s new £7M Advanced Skills and Innovation Centre (ASIC) this week.

Trevor, who is based at the company’s manufacturing site in Wakefield, was given a tour of the new facility by College Director of Estates, Jon Howard. Trevor saw first-hand some of the new facilities that are beginning to take shape including the lecture theatre, business incubation unit, engineering labs, creative suites, meeting rooms and general classrooms.

CCEP, along with a number of other regional employers, have been involved with the ASIC project from the outset and sit on the development group which has helped inform the design, layout and specification of the new facility which is due to open later this year. The new centre, which will become the hub of the University Centre at Wakefield College, promises to become a centre for innovation and enterprise helping bring employers, business leaders and students together to help transform the delivery of high-level skills in the District.

CCEP Site Director, Trevor Newman said: “Coca Cola European Partners are pleased to be able to work with Wakefield College on the ASIC to ensure our current and potential future employees are able to access high quality skills and training required by Wakefield based businesses like ours.”

Wakefield College Principal, Sam Wright said: “We were delighted to welcome Trevor to the College for him to see first-hand the progress that has been made with our fantastic new Advanced Skills and Innovation Centre. We are grateful for Coca Cola European Partners continued support and advice during the development of this new high level skills facility.”

The college continues to work closely with CCEP on a number of joint initiatives including apprentice recruitment and training in areas including engineering and business administration. A recent success story is Reece Whittham who completed an engineering apprenticeship and as a result has allowed him to secure a promotion to a Shift leader role. The College is also helping train experienced CCEP staff to become mentors to new employees joining the company.

The ASIC project has received £3.3M investment through the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of investment to accelerate good growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.