Digital Skills & Innovation Centre

The re-location of commercial facing functions of the local college to the town centre will offer industry specific training with an emphasis on digital subjects and the establishment of a training restaurant.  This will improve the digital skills base, create a new training opportunity and support a GVA skills uplift of £13.4m over 10 years.

The project establishes a prestigious, town centre based Digital Skills & Innovation Centre (DS&IC), offering an accessible route to a progressive portfolio of training programmes of knowledge, skills and behaviours, to propel individual professional success and equip Nuneaton with a skilled workforce, entrepreneurs driving productivity and ongoing Covid recovery support, whilst enhancing economic growth.

Provided by North Warwickshire & South Leicestershire College (NW&SLC) the project will provide increased capacity and compliment the provision at the College site on Hinckley Road.

The DS&IC will be accommodated in a new 1,437 sqm, three storey building, situated within a prominent position in the Abbey Street development overlooking the new public space. The new building provides accommodation for a Restaurant, Bistro, College Shop, Training Kitchen, Pastry Kitchen, Digital Skills Hub, shared workspace, workshop and classrooms.

The Centre will support the following skills training and public facing facilities:

• Catering and hospitality skills, including public access to a fine dining restaurant and bistro. 

• Additional practical skills such as floristry and other creative arts. 

• In demand digital skills to support career changers, starters and increased innovation. 

• General IT skills aimed at individuals where current lack creates barriers to employment or establishment of own business. 

• Business and enterprise skills focusing upon supporting those wishing to establish their own business. 

• Business administration skills for direct careers and/or to support the skills required in establishing a business. 

• Shared workspace/exhibition space, providing an opportunity to showcase training outcomes to the public, offer meeting/exhibition space to the local community and provide a workspace for new business start-ups. 

The construction phase of the project will be managed by Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough as part of Phase 2 of the Transforming Nuneaton Abbey Street Regeneration Scheme.

Funding: Total project cost £8,318,152. The construction of the DS&IC building is to be funded from an allocation of £7,832,152 from the Towns Fund with co-funding from Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council.

It is anticipated that construction work will commence in Autumn 2022 with the centre opening Easter 2024.