The old indoor market off Market Square now trains plumbers, carpenters, bricklayers and mechanics. North Hertfordshire College's Town Centre Campus has opened.

The former Stevenage Indoor Market is now a training centre for plumbers, carpenters, bricklayers and car mechanics. North Hertfordshire College has held the official launch of its Town Centre Campus, and students have been learning there since September.

Stevenage Borough Council announced the launch on 9 October. The building work was paid for by the government’s Towns Fund, which the council and the Stevenage Development Board secured for the town.

What is there now

The college’s own Town Centre Campus page sets out what the building holds:

  • 3,600 square metres of teaching space, at Market Square, SG1 1EP
  • workshops for carpentry, plumbing, motor vehicle and brickwork, with dedicated bays for each trade
  • classrooms for the same courses, and for construction apprentices
  • Student Services on site, including wellbeing, careers and learning support

The campus replaces the college’s old Engineering and Construction Campus in Units 1 to 5, Fulton Close. Electrical courses did not make the move. They have gone to new classrooms at the main Stevenage campus on Monkswood Way, which the college says is a five-minute walk away.

Four students in hi-vis vests working on timber in a carpentry workshop with plywood booths at North Hertfordshire College's Town Centre Campus
The carpentry workshop at the Town Centre Campus. Photo: North Hertfordshire College

What it cost

The council ran the building contract itself, with the college taking up the space once it was done. The award is on the government’s Find a Tender service.

The contract
Contractor R G Carter Cambridge Limited
Contract value £4,590,762
Contract signed 24 November 2025
Council’s estimate when it went out to tender, June 2025 £4,320,000 including VAT

The council says work began at the end of November 2025 and the building was ready for the new academic year in September 2026. That is about ten months from start to first students.

The council’s project page adds one detail drivers will want: the St George’s Way multi-storey car park next door stays. It was never part of the scheme.

Why the council wanted a college in a market hall

The council’s argument is footfall. Council leader Richard Henry said the campus “brings students into the town centre, encouraging important footfall, investing in our local economy and our high street businesses too.”

Kit Davies, the college’s principal and chief executive, said the launch showed “how the new space aligns curriculum delivery with the skills needed in Hertfordshire’s construction trades and motor vehicle industries.”

The market itself has not gone. It moved to Boston House, Park Place, and reopened there on 6 December 2025. The council’s free Halloween afternoon on 31 October is being held at the new market. We have the details in our Halloween guide.

What it means for you

  • If you are a student or apprentice on a construction or motor vehicle course, your classes are at Market Square now, not Fulton Close. Electrical students go to Monkswood Way.
  • If you drive in, the college says there is paid parking at the site, or you can park at the Monkswood Way campus and walk over if there is space. Our Stevenage parking page lists what every council car park charges.
  • If you run a business in the town centre, expect more young people around Market Square on weekdays during term.
  • If you are thinking about a trade course for next year, the college lists bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing, motor vehicles and construction apprenticeships at this campus.

Neither the council nor the college has said what will happen to the empty units at Fulton Close.

Sources