Over 120 new jobs on the cards if Advanced Composite Technology Centre project receives grant funding support.
Brightlingsea/Essex, 5 November 2014 – CTruk, a leading UK innovator in composite vessel design, recently signed the lease on a 6400m2 site on the Colne Estuary, a few miles upriver from its current Brightlingsea base. The company plans to use the Fieldgates site in Haven Road, The Hythe, East Colchester to build the larger vessels required for offshore wind farm projects further out to sea.
CTruk is pressing on with refurbishment of the existing building on Fieldgates in order to move some production activity over early next year. However, the company also has ambitious plans to build a brand new production facility, offices and training centre on the currently derelict site. As such, it has applied for a grant through Round 6 of Regional Growth Fund (RGF). Funding support would see CTruk invest to transform from boat builder to ‘Advanced Composite Technology Centre’ creating over 120 new private-sector jobs (including 15 new apprenticeships) over the next few years.
A ‘green light’ for this project would be great news for The Hythe, an area of Colchester marked for regeneration. CTruk’s plans, which would be substantially complete by the end of 2015, would see the long-derelict Fieldgates transformed into a vibrant manufacturing hub, creating a ripple effect of indirect job creation in the local community as the workforce moves in and grows. It is hoped that the return of a marine based industry to this former port area will act as a stimulus for further new business in the area. It could also provide opportunities for existing companies to supply and support the CTruk development.
