Principal David Pomfret to lead ceremony for state-of-the-art facilities due to open Easter 2013

Construction work for a new �7.2 million technology centre for the College of West Anglia's Isle Campus, Wisbech, starts on Friday.

A ground-breaking ceremony will be held at the Ramnoth Road site which will be home to a state-of-the-art engineering workshop.

The new building will cover some 2,700 square metres of floor area with projected completion by Easter 2013.

The scheme is sponsored by Cambridgeshire County Council which is contributing �5m and Fenland District Council which is contributing �1.5m and focuses on the skills required in the big employment sectors across Fenland.

It will provide Fenland with an up-to-date training environment for local people to develop their skills ready for employment.

The county council will also have offices at the campus in another �6.5m project as part of the scheme.

Leading the ceremony will be college principal David Pomfret, Nick Clarke of the county council and Chris Seaton of Fenland council.

'The new technology centre will enable us to meet the needs of the engineering and manufacturing businesses which are so critical to our local economy. I'm delighted that, with external funding support from Cambridgeshire County Council and Fenland District Council, we are able to bring such fantastic new facilities to Fenland. This investment demonstrates our commitment to realising our ambitious accommodation improvement plans college wide', said Mr Pomfret.

Mr Bob Ensch, area director for contractor Morgan Sindall, said: 'The College of West Anglia development is ambitious and forward thinking. We are delighted to be able to bring our experience as one of the UK's leading providers of buildings for higher education to this project.'

The project will include state-of-the-art workshop facilities for engineering, motorsports, motor vehicle engineering and electrical and electro-technical programmes.