The centre has been established by primary funders South West Regional Development Agency in conjunction with Marine South West, ITE Training Limited and Sunseeker International.

The new centre was officially opened on Tuesday March 22 by Juliet Williams, Chairman of the South West RDA, Robert Braithwaite MBE, managing director of Sunseeker International, and Mike Leece, chairman of Marine South West, and is the first of three regional centres to service the marine industry.

At the opening, Robert Braithwaite commented: "There is no substitute for properly trained and skilled personnel who continue to develop and grow with their company. The Poole Marine Skills Centre will make a tremendous difference to the quality of training in the area and in turn the future development of the local marine industry, its employees, services and products."

Sunseeker fully supports the concept of staff development and has fully committed to the training and development of young people. The company today has two senior managers who started as apprentices over 20 years ago, proving that apprentices are part of an investment for the future. This year, Sunseeker has recruited a further 20+ apprentices.

The Marine Skills Centre is based on the Hamworthy Engineering Site at Fleets' Corner in Poole and will offer City and Guilds qualifications achieved by classroom study, vocational teaching and assessments, as well as other qualifications that will offer recognised industry awards.