SOUTH Cheshire College and Reaseheath have scooped more than £500,000 to fund information technology training in local industry.

The Government money has been awarded to the two colleges as part of a venture they are running in conjunction with the New Cheshire consortium of colleges.

The consortium is made up of South Cheshire, Reaseheath, Macclesfield, Mid-Cheshire, Sir John Deane's and West Cheshire Colleges.

They were awarded the contract following their successful track record in other projects despite stiff competition from all over the country.

The three year IT programme will receive the funding and each of the six colleges will support the initiative through matched funding.

The financial boost will be used to create the Cheshire Technology Forum and to ensure that local businesses are at the forefront of the IT revolution.

Forum co-ordinator Alan Burgess said: "This is testimony to the high standing of these colleges in New Cheshire and their ability to provide schemes to support the economic growth and success of this region.

"Information technology is crucial for businesses today if they want to have, or maintain, an advantage in an increasingly competitive economic environment.

"The training that we are able to offer local businesses has been developed so as to meet the different IT needs of various industry sectors."

Each college will provide conferences, seminars and workshops on different IT training schemes to meet the needs of specific business activities for companies.

South Cheshire College will provide hotels and restaurants with the skills needed to promote themselves using a website.

And Reaseheath will ensure that land based industries understand how to use the internet to their best advantage.

For details on training and how it can benefit your business contact Alan Burgess on 654654.

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