New £9.5 Automotive Training Facility

The UK’s leading automotive Technology Park, MIRA Technology Park and Enterprise Zone has announced the construction of a new £9.5m MIRA Technology Institute. This new collaboration between HORIBA MIRA and some of the Midlands’ top education institutions comprises lead partner North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, Coventry University, Loughborough University and the University of Leicester.

The new announcement will see the construction of a 24,500sq/ft. bespoke global skills centre at MIRA Technology Park. The MIRA Technology Institute (MTI) is being created to help to satisfy the ever increasing demand for specialist skills in the automotive sector – an issue that the UK has to solve to ensure the automotive sector continues to prosper.

Set to open in September 2018, MTI will help to create specialist skills in some of the new disruptive technology areas such as electrification and driverless car technologies, ensuring a sustainable supply of future technical specialists and engineers.  The development of the MTI follows research by the Leicester & Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) to identify future skills needs. MIRA Technology Park, as a developing Enterprise Zone, focuses on auto sector R&D and the demand for specialist technical skills that has risen sharply as successful vehicle manufacturers and their supply chains have geared up for expansion and growth.

Developing talented apprentices right through to qualified engineers, the MTI will bridge the skills gap across the automotive sector with relevant expertise and qualifications. George Gillespie OBE, CEO at HORIBA MIRA, said: “The MIRA Technology Institute is a unique solution that has been created to address a very real problem the UK automotive sector is facing. Importantly, it is well aligned with the government’s new Industrial Strategy. It will be a huge asset to MIRA Technology Park but we hope its benefits will be felt throughout the UK auto sector and beyond.”