The work of students at training provider TTE has been boosted by a donation of cutting edge equipment.

Mitsubishi Chemical UK has donated a significant amount of new instrumentation equipment to TTE, part of the Middlesbrough College Group, in the wake of the closure of its Cassel plant in Billingham after high natural gas prices and falling demand globally.

Not wanting to see the equipment go unused and aiming to help the local community, Mitsubishi Chemical UK decided to donate it to training facilities and local colleges, including TTE.

TTE took delivery of the equipment earlier this month and it is now being used to train students on courses including T Level Instrumentation, T Level Mechatronics and BTEC Level 3 Instrumentation.

Dave Plews, Instrumentation and Equipment Manager at Mitsubishi Chemical UK, said: “We wanted to use the equipment which we had in a positive way so we thought that donating it to education and training providers like TTE was the ideal way to do so.

“We hope that this equipment goes on to help develop the next generation of engineers and technicians to achieve their career aspirations.”

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John Taylor, Project Manager for Instrumentation and Capital Projects at TTE, said: “We’re very grateful to Dave and the team at Mitsubishi Chemical UK for this really generous gesture.

“Our aim is to ensure that the training and education we give to students is as close as possible to the real-life situations in which they will find themselves in the workplace and this equipment will definitely help to do that.

“We’re looking forward to seeing our students get to grips with what Mitsubishi Chemical UK have donated as they continue their training and education.”

TTE is set to move into a brand new £12m training centre at Middlesbrough College Group’s Middlehaven campus in September.

The new 3,000 sq m centre will train over 300 full-time students, 300 apprentices and 500 adults each year, alongside a thriving international cohort of students.

Middlesbrough College Group’s high quality training and learning environments were singled out for praise by education inspectors in a recent Ofsted report.

Inspectors from the education watchdog said that the college had “vibrant learning environments that are very well resourced” and that this made a big difference to student outcomes.

The Ofsted report stated: “Learners and apprentices are exposed to the world of work and are well prepared to progress into employment.”