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Principal Phil Frier Signals New Era at City College
30 August 2007
With thirty years working in Further Education under his belt, Phil Frier, most recently the Executive Director of Sussex Downs College, is relishing his role as the new Principal of City College Brighton and Hove. 'I'd already heard that City College had a reputation as a friendly place with a good community feel, but it was great to discover that the reputation was a reality.' says Phil. 'I was really impressed with the warm welcome I received from the staff. It's clear that they have a real commitment to education and a very good understanding of the need for the College to play a big part in the development of Brighton and Hove as a City.'
City College is one of the Top 10 largest employers in Brighton and Hove, offering around 700 courses to 12,000 students each year. In February, the College announced that it was submitting a bid to the Learning and Skills Council for capital funding to support its vision for transforming the college estate so that all learning takes place in 21st century buildings. 'It's an exciting time for us', says Phil. 'We have a once in a generation opportunity to bid for government funding to build state-of-the-art facilities for our students. Over the next few years we're planning to develop an outstanding College that'll be recognised for its work in developing skills education nationally and internationally. It'll be a huge building challenge to provide world class facilities for our students over the next four years. But it's not just about the buildings themselves. The whole project is a catalyst to providing the highest quality education that we can to assist Brighton and Hove's natural progression into a world class City.'
Phil Frier
More broadly, Phil's approach will be to work collaboratively rather than competitively with key partners. The College will therefore be proactive in community leadership in the coming months, working closely with local Secondary Schools, Sixth Form Colleges, the City Council and local businesses. These links with local businesses are something that Phil is eager to nurture. 'When I attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting in the summer I was really impressed by the vitality and dynamism of the local business people that I met', he enthuses. 'We'll be working closely with these businesses to offer further skills training to make sure that we meet the need for our local workforce to be well educated and have cutting-edge technical skills.' He has also warmly welcomed the go-ahead for the Community Stadium at Falmer as the College seeks funding through the Learning and Skills Council to use the power of sport to open up new opportunities for students.
Outside of work, Phil's interests revolve around his family and local community life in Sussex. In the recent past, Phil enjoyed the challenge of raising money for charity and ran in the London and New York marathons. But ultimately, its education that drives him. 'Over the last thirty years, I've been very preoccupied with education and it's often been hard to separate my personal and work life but I don't really have a problem with that. Lifelong learning is just something that I passionately believe in.'
For media enquiries, please call Brian Bell, Marketing Communications Officer, on 01273 667788 Ext. 488 or email bb1@ccb.ac.uk
About City College Brighton and Hove: Founded over 100 years ago, City College Brighton and Hove has become an international centre of excellence. Every year over 2,000 full-time and 10,000 part time students as well as many international and European students choose City College as their education provider. The College provides training to over 2,000 businesses and has a 'City Business Skills' department which focuses on employers' needs. Offering over 700 courses from basic level to pre-University level, City College is working with its partners to develop the workforce of the future.
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