A NEW £16million centre for creative and digital industries is to be built at The Met’s city centre campus.

Brighton Metropolitan College, formerly City College, has been awarded the funding from the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership.

It will allow the college to redevelop the campus in Pelham Street.

A new Centre for Creative and Digital Industries will train the next generation of creative and digital workers.

The £5million grant will be matched by a significant college investment generated primarily through selling land on the east of Pelham Street, creating a £16million redevelopment fund.

The centre will be housed in a new 2,700m sq state-of-the-art facility integrated into Pelham Tower which will be substantially refurbished.

MET Chief Executive Nick Juba said: “Brighton MET is on the up.

“Earlier this year we opened a brand new £10million Construction and Trades Centre in East Brighton and this new investment in our city centre campus is further evidence of our commitment to providing outstanding technical and professional education for everyone in our community.

“We’re serious about ensuring our students get the skills and experience they need for successful careers in the creative and digital sectors, and our new state-of-art facilities will provide a perfect environment to make this happen.”

The digital sector is booming in the city and already contributes a £1billion per annum to the Greater Brighton economy.

Brighton has the highest density of digital companies in the country and the highest number of start-up companies outside of London.

This project will aim to address longstanding and well-documented skills shortages in the area by giving local employers access to a pool of talent and graduates with the skills they need to help their businesses to continue to thrive in the future.