Member Article

New Pontefract college receives £800k loan from Lloyds

A college in Pontefract has secured an £800k loan from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking to help finance the upgrade of its Park Lane Campus.

As part of the remodel, a new Performance Academy and Learning Resource Centre has already been built at the Pontefract site, with a new Visual Arts Academy due to open this summer.

Established in 1987, NEW College Pontefract is a specialist sixth form college, providing education to students from more than 30 schools across Wakefield and the surrounding area.

The college provides ‘A’ Level, BTEC and GCSE courses to more than 1,900 pupils.

The college has already invested more than £4m to create two new purpose built facilities on its campus, a Performance Academy, named after the playwright John Godber, which opened in 2012 and a Learning Resource Centre, which opened last October.

A further £1.5m is being invested to build a new Visual Arts Academy. The 11,000 sq ft. facility will replace a 40-year old building, which presently houses the arts, textiles and photography departments.

NEW College principal Pauline Hagen said: “We have made a substantial investment in our campus facilities to provide students with the best possible environment in which to further their education and achieve the success they deserve.

“We have enjoyed an excellent relationship with Lloyds Bank for several years and they have been very supportive in putting finance in place to help with the ongoing capital expenditure costs.”

Andrew Aisthorpe, regional head of education, charities and government, at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, added: “The investment in new facilities ensures that NEW College Pontefract can build on the great academic achievements for which it is renowned.

“Outstanding colleges like this help ensure companies both in this country and internationally have access to the skills they need to fuel their future ambitions which in turn will contribute to regional economic growth and enable us to compete in a global economy.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .