Newcastle and Durham universities to have base in Blyth

Both Newcastle and Durham universities will operate out out the upcoming Energy Central Institute, set to be built on the site of the former Keel Row shopping centre.

The second phase of the Energy Central Campus, the institute will offer higher education science and technology qualifications up to PHD level.

The first phase of the campus, the Energy Central Hub, opened last year and provides qualifications up to degree level.

Northumberland County Council’s cabinet has approved the project’s outline business case and accepted just under £5.5m from the North East Combined Authority to develop the project.

Deputy leader Richard Wearmouth said: “When we came to office there was an incredibly poor education and skills offer in Blyth – something we needed to change and are changing.

"If you had said a few years ago that we would have world-leading universities like Durham and Newcastle operating from a base in the centre of Blyth, you would have been laughed at – and yet here we are.

“The Energy Central Hub opened at the end of last year and there are already people learning in that facility, linking them up with good, high quality jobs in the Port of Blyth and beyond. This is the next step in that process.

“It will provide education from 18 right up to PHD level of learning. It has been developed with businesses like Catapult and others that will come to the area and will provide life-long learning for Blyth residents and those from further afield.

“There is still work to be done to get us to the next stages, but this will get us to the design stage and get us to planning.”

A report described the institute as a “key project” in the £95m Energising Blyth Programme.

Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson added: “We will not be the people who leave the people of Blyth in the past. We need to move on from the idea that it is all doom and gloom, the mine has closed and everything is terrible.

“We have a very exciting future in south east Northumberland with offshore wind and other renewable energies, and it is something we have to grasp.”