Staff from Tresham College are celebrating the successful merger to become part of one of the largest further education providers within the South East Midlands: The Bedford College Group.
Bedford and Tresham colleges formally merged on August 1st 2017 to form The Bedford College Group, less than six months after the proposal was originally made in February 2017. This was supported by the FE Commissioner and Skills Funding Agency and was encouraged as a recommendation from the recent Area Based Review for the South East Midlands region.
The Bedford College Group includes Cauldwell Street campus, Shuttleworth College, The Bedford Sixth Form, as well as Tresham’s Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough campuses and The National College for Motorsport in Northamptonshire
The merger has been overseen by a steering group involving Governors and interim managers for both Bedford College and Tresham College. The newly merged college will appoint a board that is representative of the area covered by the new Bedford College Group.
Ian Pryce CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Bedford College since 1998 will take up the role of group Principal and CEO.
Interim Tresham Principal, Ioan Morgan CBE will leave after the merger is complete. Mr Morgan was brought in to manage Tresham in October 2016 and see the college into financial stability.
Speaking of the formal decision to merge, Ian Pryce CBE said:
This bigger college group will be able to better serve Bedford and North Northamptonshire. It enables us to expand the courses and programmes including more advanced and higher level programmes and more apprenticeships. For staff it protects jobs and will ensure we can attract the best people.
“We are committed to the communities of Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough as well as Bedfordshire and we plan to grow provision in all areas. The enthusiastic response we have had from employers, local councils, staff and students shows the community has the same ambition as us and that support will help enormously.”
