What is East Midlands NTI?

East Midlands NTI is a £6 million initiative, backed by the region’s leading colleges and universities. NTI provides grants to small and medium sized firms to invest in state of the art technology, and gain advanced technology skills through NTI approved courses.

NTI also provides grants to its Network of universities and colleges to invest in high tech equipment, and for the development of Foundation Degrees. Equipment purchased by the universities and colleges is available for use by local companies taking part in NTI programmes.

East Midlands NTI is the largest in the UK and recognised as a best practice model for all NTIs.

Construction Network

The Construction Network is one of the three new NTI networks, and is now operational.

The Construction Network comprises two Higher and nine Further Education Institutions from across the region, with support from numerous external bodies.

Construction nationally has serious shortages of skilled and appropriately qualified staff across most trades and the engineering disciplines. The NTI Construction Network has the brief of bringing industry and education (colleges and universities) together to help increase the skill-base and productivity of the region’s small- to medium-sized construction enterprises (SMEs).

We are therefore offering the following services:

• provision of advice and consultancy relating to advanced technologies: evaluation and assessment, procurement, effective application and implementation, best practice, etc.;
• enabling SMEs to have access to new, high-tech equipment so that they can assess its possible impact on their productivity;
• supporting and assisting an SME to make a technical development grant application to the East Midlands NTI (grants of up to £5,000 per company are available) and/or to make an application for financial assistance from other sources;
• institution-based academic provision (enhanced or developed with NTI funding) which employees of SMEs may attend with the support of their employer; includes both educational courses and short training courses, including industry-standard courses;
• provision of company-based training: for example, by delivering new bespoke training on company premises, or arranging enhanced or new work-based learning, or providing advice on the design of in-house technology training programmes, etc).

Network members cover the East Midlands from Northampton to Chesterfield and from Derby to Lincoln, so the Construction Network is ideally placed to reach out to SMEs in the region with the aim of helping them gain access to education in the application of advanced technology skills.

During Phase 1 of the project the chosen areas of focus for the Network’s capital investment are surveying and plumbing. Some £200,000 of the latest surveying equipment has been purchased, including robotic, reflector-less total stations, GPS sets, scanning and digital imaging total stations, and digital photogrammetric equipment. Some £40,000 is also being spent on the provision of a complete diagnostic workshop for training plumbers. Phase 1 runs until August 2005, and an audit of SME needs will be carried out to influence further capital purchases in Phase 2, which runs until August 2006.

The plumbing facility and the surveying equipment will shortly all be available for construction SMEs to use and evaluate, to assess for potential impact on productivity. Some of the equipment will also be available for hire.

The Technical Development Grants (of up to £5,000 per company) which are available are for the purchase of any form of advanced technology equipment, and are certainly not limited to the fields of surveying and plumbing. For details of how to apply, please contact the Network Office (details below).

Network Members and Supporting Organisations

• Nottingham Trent University (lead)
• Chesterfield College
• Derby College
• Lincoln College
• Moulton College, Northampton
• New College Nottingham
• South East Derbyshire College, Ilkeston
• Stephenson College, Coalville

The Network is working closely with CITB Construction Skills, Constructing Excellence, East Midlands Centre for constructing the Built Environment (EMCBE), CAGE North Nottottinghamshire, National Federation of Builders, LSC, and others.

Contact Us

For further information about making a grant application, to obtain an application form or to arrange an informal visit to discuss grant applications, please contact:

NTI Construction Network Office
Nottingham Trent University
Burton Street
Nottingham
NG1 4BU
Tel: 0115 848 2977
Email: NTIConstructionNetwork@ntu.ac.uk