Bradford is all set to be at the hub of the region's electronics industry now a major training partnership has won nearly £7 million to narrow the skills gap.

Five hundred jobs will be created in the city and 2,500 across the Yorkshire region in the next two years thanks to the funding which will also create a Centre of Electronics Excellence in Bradford.

The first phase of the programme involves turning Bradford College's Victoria Building on Thornton Road into the Centre of Excellence where 500 18-25-year-olds will be trained in various levels of electronics.

The aim is to support the 40 small to medium electronics firms in the districts which should be able to create at least ten jobs each over the next ten years. A list of firms interested in expansion has already been drawn up. The training has already started for a small number of students at Bradford College until the Victoria Building is ready.

The Centre of Excellence will also be used to develop fledgling electronics businesses and feed trainees into the city's small and large electronics employers such as Filtronic Comtek and Pace Micro Technology.

The cash has been awarded to a partnership which has developed one of 12 Regional Innovation Strategy bodies - set up by Yorkshire Forward - which is chaired by Bradford businessman Dr John Duffy who is a former lecturer at Bradford University.

The partnership includes Bradford TEC, Bradford, Shipley and Keighley colleges and Bradford Council.

The Centre of Excellence will be developed using £2 million of cash made up from £1 million the European Regional Development fund and the European Social Fund and matched funding from public bodies such as councils and training and enterprise councils, colleges, universities and the private sector.

The rest of the cash will be used to help existing firms with marketing and developing strategies for electronics firms. There are also plans to develop a fast-track help scheme linking firms with academics with electronics expertise which could be used by firms in the area.

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