Middlesbrough College rescues TTE Technical Institute from administration

SCORES of workers and their families have been given certainty ahead of Christmas thanks to Middlesbrough College acquiring TTE Technical Institute.

The college has stepped in to safeguard around 70 jobs at the prominent training provider and ensure hundreds of learners and apprentices can complete their courses without interruption.

The college purchased the business and assets of TTE Technical Institute out of administration, with Martyn Pullin, David Willis and Iain Townsend of FRP Advisory acting as Joint Administrators.

It means the TTE brand, existing workforce and facilities will transfer entirely to Middlesbrough College’s ownership and continue to operate.

TTE employees could have faced redundancy little more than a week before the Christmas break, though now the future is brighter as Middlesbrough College has pledged investment in staff and facilities to grow the well respected brand.

Zoe Lewis, principal and chief executive of Middlesbrough College, explained:

“TTE has an incredibly strong reputation for providing skills locally, nationally and internationally – and we’re going to build on that.

“The TTE team is highly respected for delivering world class training and that will continue as normal while we invest in staff, equipment and facilities.

“We will also continue to deliver and grow TTE’s international business – which works with companies in West Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.”

Middlesbrough College will ensure that the @TTE_Training brand, reputation and legacy can not only survive – but thrive as we move into the 2020’s.

For company’s working with TTE – its business as usual!

For staff working at TTE – welcome to our team!

(2/2) pic.twitter.com/PALxyH20R9

— Mbro College (@mbrocollege) December 16, 2019

Middlesbrough College has also renegotiated the lease on TTE’s premises, securing a future £250k investment in the buildings.

The move joins together two of the strongest training providers in the North.

Middlesbrough College – which is rated Good by Ofsted – is the only Tees Valley college to have been selected to deliver T Levels from 2021. These new technical qualifications combine practical skills and on-the-job training with classroom learning.

The college is also in the final stages of being selected as the Tees Valley hub of the North East’s forthcoming Institute of Technology – a new concept providing higher technical training through collaboration between further and higher education and employers.

Zoe added: “TTE has played an absolutely central role in developing the skills that grow the engineering, oil and gas, process and manufacturing sectors here in the Tees Valley and further afield.

“And Middlesbrough College, as a specialist STEM college, is already poised to deliver cutting edge T Levels and host the Institute of Technology facility – the match is perfect.

“We’re extending a very warm welcome to the TTE team and now our focus is on growing TTE’s strong brand and building on its outstanding legacy for skills training.”

Middlesbrough College is rated TEF Gold – a teaching excellence framework (TEF) that assesses the quality of teaching in universities in England.