A topping out ceremony has been held at the new Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Institute of Technology (IoT) to mark the structural completion of the scheme and the building reaching its highest point.

Keele University is the higher education partner in the new IoT, which is led by Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG), and includes three other further education colleges in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire as core FE partners and five core industry partners. The IoT will significantly increase the number of learners participating in higher technical education and provide the skills that businesses need both now and, in the future, to support regional and national productivity in areas such as green energy, clean technology, sustainable construction, digital technology and AI, as well as in healthcare.

Professor Mark Ormerod, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at Keele University, joined partners from the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire IoT and NSCG, Adam Jogee MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme and representatives from Stafford Borough Council, the Department for Education, the Gatsby Foundation and college and industry partners, to mark the occasion. The ceremony involved key stakeholders laying the last bricks to start the countdown to completion of the three-storey, 4000 square metre building which is scheduled to be ready for internal fit out during Spring 2025.

Opening to learners in September 2025, the development sits on land off Castle Street, in the heart of the Stafford Station Gateway project. The building will be packed with industry standard equipment including, robotics, automation and control equipment, a product design and innovation hub, state-of-the-art CNC machinery, 3D printers, surveying equipment and digital suites which include a 7-metre immersive virtual reality cylinder that will revolutionise the traditional classroom experience.

Professor Ormerod said: "It's fantastic to see this exciting new facility coming to fruition. The Institute of Technology will have a huge impact on the whole Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire region and put it on the map as a leader for skills development in digital innovation, sustainability and technology, for the benefit of both students and businesses across the area.

"We're delighted to be the higher education partner for the new Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire IoT, that is aimed at significantly increasing the number of learners participating in higher technical education. It's even more meaningful that we are directly involved in what is our 75th anniversary year, and that our commitment back in 1949 to meet the demands of a new kind of society, economy and world is still equally pertinent today."