The University of Wolverhampton will be one of the main players on the city’s flagship i54 business park with a multi-million-pound training and technology centre, the Express & Star can reveal today.
Bosses said the centre would attract companies from around the world, most of which would be looking to employ local people.
The development, which will take pride of place on the 226-acre development off Wobaston Road in Fordhouses, will be split into a total of four sections.
These are The Ideas Factory, Information Exchange, Tomorrow’s Business Centre and Business Leadership Lab.
The £167m i54 development will create 6,000 jobs and be home to a hotel, businesses, industrial units and research facilities.
The first steps have already been taken to creating the roads, which will cut through the park and allow easy access for drivers from the M54 between Wolverhampton and Telford.
Nigel Babb, director of strategic developments at the university, said: “These exciting developments will form a technology gateway where industry and academia have strong, self-supporting and multi-beneficial links.”
The university said its proposal would make it the first port of call in the country for development and research into small and medium-sized businesses.
Mr Babb said: “The university already has some of the strongest links with business of any university and is the ideal partner for a venture that seeks to exploit new knowledge.”
The new centre will have three main focuses - innovation, enterprise and skills.
The Ideas Factory will be a melting pot of ideas between the university and businesses, while Information Exchange will have research facilities.
Tomorrow’s Business Centre will be a support base for new businesses and the Business Leadership Lab will be a training facility for industry managers.
By Elizabeth Joyce
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