Staff and students at a new innovation centre are celebrating after it was praised by Braintree MP James Cleverly.

The Braintree STEM Innovation Centre, which cost around £6million to build, opened in June in Church Lane, Braintree.

The first year students are now halfway through their first term at the Stem centre - which stands for science, technology, engineering and maths.

Braintree MP James Cleverly described the building as "really cool" when he cut the ribbon on Friday, June 16 earlier this year.

Speaking on Friday he added: "I am delighted that the Stem centre at the college is doing well.

"The state of the art equipment, refurbished facilities, passionate, and supportive community business staff are clearly having a very positive effect."

Significant investment has been made in the latest technologies including virtual reality headsets, with a large proportion of equipment identical to that used by industry professionals on a daily basis.

Chris Coe, a lecturer in welding and fabrication said: “Instead of talking about state-of-the-art technology, students can use the machinery themselves and, who knows, one day may even advise their future employers on its use.”

The purpose-built centre equips tutors with the tools needed to demonstrate skills first-hand to the students, allowing crucial time for trial and error before entering the world of work.  

Tom Welham, the assistant area head of media added: “Students will find entering the workplace less daunting as they will already be familiar with the equipment.

"We are constantly trying to keep up-to-date and in line with the industry.

"The facilities are the ideal response to our ever-growing demand in the industry.”

And Andrew Payne, the energy skills centre supervisor, said: "It is not often you have the opportunity to develop an engineering facility from the ground up and tailor it to suit the exact needs of the qualifications being offered.”

On Saturday, The College at Braintree hosted its final open event where those in attendance had the opportunity to explore the exciting new facilities in the Stem innovation centre also.

The next open event will take place in January.

Those interested in finding out more visit colchester.ac.uk/events