Browne Jacobson advises Nottingham City Council on funding for flagship £58m skills hub

Browne Jacobson’s banking and finance team advised Nottingham City Council on its £18m loan facility to fund the construction of the £58m skills hub for Nottingham College. The project also has the financial support of D2N2, the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Work on the new College City Hub will start in the summer of 2018 and is expected to be complete in time for the 2020/21 academic year.

The six-storey campus, which will be located on Canal Street near the Broadmarsh shopping centre, will house around 2,000 students studying business, computing, travel and tourism, science, hospitality, care and early years courses. It will act as a hub for local businesses to help develop closer ties with the college. Other facilities will include a performing arts centre, student retail space, café and training restaurant and bar.

The project is part of £250m regeneration project south of the city centre spearheaded by Nottingham City Council which also incorporates the redevelopment of the intu Broadmarsh Centre, the rebuild of the Broadmarsh bus station and car park, as well as various improvements to the surrounding road and pedestrian infrastructure.

Chris Henning, Strategic Director, Economy, Nottingham City Council, added :

“The College City Hub is an integral part of our commitment to transform and regenerate the southern gateway to the city. As well as offering a first class learning environment we are making sure employers are at the heart of the skills system and this partnership approach will be key in ensuring that Nottingham utilises the vast young talent we have on our doorstep and develops the skills to help grow key sectors and industries.

“We are grateful for the advice and support of Paul and his team at Browne Jacobson which has helped to ensure our vision for a learning and skills hub to rival the best in the country is that much closer to being realised.”

Paul Ray was supported by James Busby and Harpinder Nahl of Browne Jacobson’s banking and finance team.

Paul Ray, head of banking and finance at Browne Jacobson, said :

“This is not only a game changing project for the city but will be a blueprint for the future development of further education across the region and beyond. We are delighted to have advised the City Council in ensuring the necessary funding is in place to help deliver their vision to transform the landscape in this part of the city.”