The Wilton Centre has achieved its largest letting for the last 10 years, leasing 36,000 sq ft of office and training space to create a new state-of-the-art training centre for a Middlesbrough-based international electrical safety training provider.
The Faraday Training Group has taken a 10 year lease on its new premises at the Wilton Centre near Redcar, nearly doubling its existing training and office space at its Middlesbrough facilities on the Skippers Lane Industrial Estate, and creating up to six new lecturing jobs.
The international training company is relocating into the South Annexe Building at the 75 acre science and business park, which was formerly the home of ICI’s North East Regional Computing Centre.
Built in 1988, the two storey building had offices and large halls to house mainframe computers but, with the advent of the personal computer, it was never used as a computing centre, and became ICI’s archive store until 2003. Since then it has largely remained unoccupied.
“This a good deal for both the Wilton Centre and for Faraday Training and one of the largest deals, in terms of space, we have done in the past 10 years. Faraday will breathe much needed new life into this building. With its combination of offices and large spaces, and access to a high voltage power supply, it is ideal for their training needs,” said Steve Duffield, Wilton Centre’s Site Director.
Faraday Training employs 29 people, providing training for more than 2000 trainees each year. The company is investing in a new range of both high and low voltage electrical equipment. The new facility will have three purpose designed practical areas, 14 dedicated classrooms, a purpose-built seminar room, a large canteen area and more than 60 dedicated parking spaces. Faraday Training plans to open the new facility in September 2017.
Hannah Thomas, Project Manager with Faraday Training says: “The Wilton Centre is the perfect location to meet our needs. Its industrial setting also upholds the life-like experience we hope to convey to our candidates when attending courses at the Faraday Centre.
“As well as growing our premises we are also expanding our team. We are already looking for extra lecturing staff and may also be looking to source staff for our Marketing and Sales departments.”
Dodds Brown acted for the Wilton Centre. Faraday Training was unrepresented. Stephen Brown, Senior Partner at Middlesbrough-based letting agents Dodds Brown, says: “It was important for Faraday to remain in the Teesside area to continue to provide electrical engineering courses for the local offshore, chemical, process and manufacturing industries. The Wilton Centre has a unique mix of flexible office, laboratory and plant space to meet the diverse needs of many local, regional and national businesses.”
