News of a new £9 million development at a north-west college has been welcomed by catering companies, who have recommended that further increases in funding be rolled out at educational centres across the country. It is hoped that the move at Carlisle College will succeed in training a new generation of kitchen and catering staff with state of the art skills and management techniques.

The plans were first reported by the BBC who obtained details that the multi-million pound facility at Carlisle College will start being constructed after demolition work, which begins today, has been completed at the site.

The BBC website said: “The new development, on Strand Road and Compton Street, will include a catering kitchen, training restaurant and salons for beauty students”.

The construction of the new development will be handled by Kier Construction, chosen from a prospective list of seven who tabled bids. It is believed that once begun, the work will take just under a year to complete the two-storey structure. When completed, the site will boast a fully operative catering kitchen and training restaurant for catering students, as well as salons for beauty students.

There had originally been a £30 million redevelopment plan at the site that unfortunately had to be dropped after there were funding problems at the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).

Fortunately, the Northwest Regional Development Agency, together with Cumbria County Council, have stepped forward to provide funds for the scaled-down project to be completed.

Posted by Matt on the 21st April 2010