The 17-acre business and technical park on Dagenham’s former Sanofi site has welcomed its first tenant, an engineering training centre.

Facilities management specialists Arcus Solutions have unveiled plans for an engineering training academy at londoneast-uk, set to open in the next few months.

The centre will train Arcus Solutions’ engineers on refrigeration, mechanical and electrical systems for Sainsbury’s supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol stations.

Steve Willis managing director of Arcus Solutions, said: “Our colleagues really are what make the difference to the service we provide to our customers.

“We see our investment in the Arcus Solutions Technical Academy at Londoneast-uk as a vital long-term strategy for developing high quality engineers.”

Aiming to train about 100 people in the first year, the academy will focus on developing apprentices into future engineers while operating courses to upskill existing engineers on new systems and new innovations with plans to extend operations in the future

Until recently Arcus Solutions has been servicing Sainsbury’s facilities on an exclusive basis but now Arcus Solutions is able to extend services to other businesses, offering facilities management, refrigeration, mechanical, electrical work and training on a wider range of engineering skills.

The multi-million pound deal to create the business and technical park – owned and operated by SOG Group – was agreed in November and is set to create up to 800 jobs within five years.