St Neots is set to welcome a brand new specialist training facility, as West Suffolk College — one of England’s newly designated Construction Technical Excellence Colleges — confirms plans to establish a micro-construction centre in the town focusing on construction and green technology skills.

The SkillsBuild Construction Training Centre, to be located on the eastern side of St Neots next to Love’s Farm, is part of a wider package of investment secured by West Suffolk College through £2.75 million in capital funding from the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA). The funding will also support two other new centres: an East Cambridgeshire Training Centre in Soham and a health science centre in Ely.

A national accolade with local impact

The announcement comes on the back of West Suffolk College being named as the Construction Technical Excellence College (CTEC) for the East of England by the government, one of only ten such colleges in the country. The initiative, backed by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, aims to train 40,000 people nationally by 2029, equipping them with skills in areas including bricklaying, carpentry, electrical installation and plumbing.

West Suffolk College is part of Eastern Education Group, a family of outstanding colleges and schools. The college itself received an outstanding Ofsted rating in December 2024, joining its sister institutions Abbeygate Sixth Form College and One Sixth Form College in holding the top grade.

Laraine Moody, Group Principal for University and Professional Development, said the college is

“delighted to have been named as the Construction Technical Excellence College for the East of England” and is committed to “supporting massive infrastructure projects in the East of England — working with industry, other education providers, employer representative bodies and the government.”

Addressing a skills gap in a growing town

St Neots has long been identified as a further education “cold spot” — an area where the proportion of residents in further education is significantly below the regional average. With no FE college of its own, many young people and adults from the town have historically had to travel to Bedford, Cambridge or Bury St Edmunds for training and qualifications.

That picture is changing. St Neots is one of the fastest-growing towns in the country, with a masterplan for the Wintringham Park development that includes thousands of new homes and additional schools. The CPCA recognised that educational infrastructure needed to keep pace — and the new SkillsBuild centre is a direct response to that need.

Green skills for a green future

What makes the St Neots centre particularly significant is its focus not just on traditional construction trades, but on green technology — the skills needed to retrofit homes, install renewable energy systems and build the sustainable infrastructure of tomorrow. With the UK’s housing stock facing a major decarbonisation challenge in the coming decades, training in this area is a genuine growth sector with strong local employment prospects.

This aligns well with the wider Wintringham development, which has been designed with sustainability at its core, and with the broader ambitions of the CPCA to drive the region’s green economy.

What it means for St Neots

For residents, businesses and visitors, the arrival of a dedicated skills centre signals something important: St Neots is being taken seriously as a place to invest in people, not just housing. It reinforces the town’s growing status as a destination with real economic and community substance — a place where young people can build careers without having to leave, and where employers can find a locally trained workforce.

It is also a timely addition as St Neots prepares to put its best foot forward on the national and regional stage, including through its UK Town of Culture 2028 bid.

The SkillsBuild centre is expected to serve learners of all ages, including school leavers, apprentices, adults retraining and those moving into the green economy for the first time.

The Mayor of St Neots, Councillor Richard Slade, welcomed the news:

“This is exactly the kind of investment St Neots needs as our town continues to grow. We have thousands of new homes being built to the east of the town, and it’s vital that the skills infrastructure keeps pace with that growth. Having a specialist construction and green technology training centre right here — next to Love’s Farm — means our young people can build their futures locally, and local employers can access a workforce that’s been trained on their doorstep. I’m delighted that West Suffolk College has chosen St Neots, and I look forward to seeing the centre take shape.”