YOUNG?people across East Hampshire looking to learn a trade have been boosted by the official opening of the £4m Future Skills Centre in Whitehill and Bordon.

District MP?Damian Hinds cut the ribbon to unveil what he described as a “world-class development” offering skills such as plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying and electrical work supporting East Hampshire District Council’s (EHDC) apprenticeship programme.

Apprentices become part of the workforce building the new eco town and Anthony Bravo, principle of Basingstoke College, which is running the skills centre, said they could soon be in even greater demand if, after Brexit, the county lost a lot of foreign labour.

“In fact, it could offer a career for life right here in Whitehill and Bordon,” he added.

Mr Bravo was among the guests who also included Hampshire County Council executive member for education Peter Edgar, Enterprise M3 LEP?chairman Dr Mike Short, EHDC?chief executive Sandy Baker, district council deputy leader Ferris Cowper, Whitehill Town Council leader Mark Davison and Whitehill mayor Colin Leach.

The Future Skills Centre is in the north of the town within the former Louisburg Barracks site, which is owned by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

It is an attractive glass building with a revolving door entrance and views across to the new trade centre and a row of new houses.

Mr Hinds described the new building as “fantastic” and showed what could be achieved “if you really put your mind to it”. He congratulated LEP3, and the county, district and town councils on their enterprise for providing a future learning centre for pupils from secondary schools in Bordon and Alton.

It was an innovation centre for start-ups in a great location for connectivity for hi-tech industries and really important to be able to provide these new skills which gives the town new confidence as well a place to develop the art of skills that can be taken anywhere, said Mr Hinds.

Young people would be able to leave the centre with a career that was important for the future development growth of the country as more and more houses were needed, he added.

Mr Hinds said that construction was an important factor for UK growth, generating an output of almost £13bn, demand was stable, and now there was cutting-edge innovation in material, techniques and design.

The job future was also looking bright, he said, as unemployment was down to 3.4 per cent – the lowest ever – and a new social housing investment has been announced by the government.

After Mr Hinds’ speech, the building was officially handed over by Mr Edgar to centre manager Steve Gilder.

Mr Gilder thanked Enterprise M3 LEP and councillors for giving him the opportunity to train students in the technical skills. He said they already had 26 students working in various departments.

Thanking Enterprise M3 LEP and the county council, Mr Bravo said it showed what collaboration could achieve.

“The students here will have a career for life, and if they want just across the road building the future new town,” said Mr Bravo, “but from here they also have the chance to enhance their skills by further study at Solent University.”

The skills centre is seen as a crucial part of the overall regeneration plan for the town, with many stakeholders insisting that the thousands of new homes and facilities should be delivered, wherever possible, by a “local workforce”.

Hampshire County Council leader Roy Perry described it as a “flagship facility” for the town which will “help to ensure young people in the local community, and the surrounding area, have the opportunity to train and develop the skills necessary to take full advantage of the jobs that will be created by the regeneration of Whitehill and Bordon”.

Geoff French, chairman of the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership, agreed the future skills centre would play a “key role” in the regeneration as the demand for a skilled workforce grows over the coming years.