A NEW £150,000 facility for training engineering apprentices has been officially opened in Malton.

Derwent Training Association’s (DTA) Mechatronics Workshop will help the firm increase its intake to 70 apprentices a year.

DTA patron Lord Derwent of Hackness cut the ribbon during a ceremony at the facility on the York Road Industrial Park.

The project, which received £30,000 funding from Ryedale District Council, is part of an expansion that has seen two more trainers taken on and DTA offering Higher Apprenticeships.

General manager John Brockett said: “This is going to help us create more apprentices, but also broaden what we offer.”

DTA provides apprentice training for around 100 businesses from the A1 corridor to Bridlington.

Lord Derwent said: “The DTA started in 1988. In 2001, I opened this centre and in 2007 there was an extension.

“Now, in 2015, we get this new workshop.

“The great thing about this is that it is employer-led. It’s not just hoping what might happen.

“It is great that there are now going to be around 70 apprentices a year.”

The new workshop will enhance DTA’s mechanical and electrical engineering training and plans are in place for link-ups with Norton College and Malton School.

Electrical trainer Dean Leith said: “Now we are in one area, we can produce and design our own circuit boards and get more people in.

“The design of the workshop is based on experience. It is designed with employers in mind. The beauty of this facility is that we can formulate pretty much anything.

“The students all love it. It feels bright and pleasant.”

DTA offers Advanced and Higher Apprenticeships, with its intake largely students who have just completed GCSEs or A-levels. Between 1988 and 2013, it trained around 500 apprentices, but Mr Brockett expects to match that figure by 2020.