City of Liverpool College unveils £3m science labs

The new £3m science labs at the City of Liverpool College have officially opened.

Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills, Cllr Nick Small, was on hand this week to unveil the Clarence Street laboratories.

The launch was attended by members of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and All About STEM, an organisation promoting science, technology, engineering and maths subjects in schools, companies and communities.

Representatives of the University of Liverpool, Mersey Maritime and other STEM sector employers were also in attendance.

Visitors were given a tour of the new facilities and discussed how the City of Liverpool College is working with the STEM sector to address the skills gap in the city region.

Cllr Nick Small, who is also Assistant Mayor of Liverpool, said: “STEM skills are vital for Liverpool city region. Many of the future jobs projected to be created in Liverpool over the years to come will demand high levels of skills in science, maths, engineering and technology.

“The college’s new STEM labs will help residents from across the whole City Region gain the right skills for those jobs.”

He continued: “Young people will benefit, as will adults who want to upskill or change careers.

“This investment shows what we can achieve when the government devolves more decision making on skills locally.”

The college’s investment has increased capacity in terms of overall lab space, while boosting specialised instrumentation such as high tech spectroscopy equipment and radioactive materials typically found only in university and commercial laboratories.

The labs were created with £3m in funding from the £232m Growth Deal secured by Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.

Cllr Ian Maher, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority’s portfolio lead for Employment and Skills, commented: “Skills is a clear priority for the Combined Authority and I’m delighted to see this investment in science and technology learning, particularly as skills in these areas are in demand from employers and will play a critical role in future economic growth.”

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