Move over Sir Alan Sugar and Sir Richard Branson - students at Penryn College will be developing their own enterprise and innovation skills when they move into the exciting Innovation Centre in the new building in September.

The £22 million Cornwall County Council project to redevelop the college and provide state of the art facilities, has been funded under the Government's Building Schools for the Future initiative. The new building, which has been designed by Poynter Bradbury Wynter Cole and constructed by Carillion Regional Building, is constructed around a pedestrian "street" linking the main entrance and department areas.

One of the key areas in the building is the new Innovation Centre, which will house the college's Applied Learning and business and vocational courses. Located in a separate wing on the ground floor of the new building, the Centre comprises a retail unit, conference room, gallery space, open plan office area and a special creative soft seating presentation area. It will also house the College's new radio station.

Assistant Headteacher Dan Mather and Rachael Bastion, the Work Related Learning Co-ordinator, are delighted with the new Centre which, they said, is the first of its kind in Cornwall, if not the UK.

"Penryn College already has a well deserved reputation for the quality of its business and vocational learning" said Dan Mather. "Our second specialism is Applied Learning and this new Centre will enable us to build on these strengths to develop our students as total learners and ensure they are equipped to meet the challenges of living and working in the 21st century".

"Rather than provide areas for specific vocational subjects, such as engineering and hairdressing which cater for a relatively small number of students, we wanted to create a Centre which would enable all our students to develop their business and enterprise skills".

Dan and Rachael consulted with a number of organisations, including Cornwall Education Business Partnership and the Specialist Schools Trust before coming up with their concept for the Innovation Centre, which will see students encouraged to develop their skills in areas such as customer service, creative thinking, team building, risk taking and reflective learning.

"One of the most exciting parts of the Centre is the retail unit which will be run by the students" explained Rachael Bastion. "They will be responsible for selling goods such as stationery, as well as items made by students in other lessons.

"We also have special areas where they will be able to practice giving presentations and pitching ideas, which will be huge benefit when they have to do interviews in the future".

The Department already has strong links with the local community and hopes that local businesses and organisations will be interested in coming into the College to use the new facilities and work with the students.