2012 heralds a dynamic new contribution to the Nottingham economy for New College Nottingham (NCN). Through NCN's Big Conversation, we have consulted key stakeholders on what kind of college they want us to be. The advice we received was that NCN needs to change – and change quickly.

Consequently, our Strategic Intent introduces our touchstones of excellence, employability and enterprise, and sets out our bold and ambitious agenda for change and willingness to engage with local challenges.

Informed by labour market intelligence, we are radically restructuring the college around five clusters that reflect the economic skills priorities of the city and county and engage with business opportunities for growth.

Each cluster comprises three or four curriculum delivery academies that will be sponsored by a significant employer.

The Business, Professional, Retail and Logistics cluster is crucial to future employment prospects of the region. It comprises business and administration, finance and professional and retail and logistics academies.

These reflect Nottingham's position at the heart of the most important logistics hub in the country. Experian is an acknowledged leader in business-to-business credit risk services and NCN sees great opportunities in helping other ambitious local businesses develop their workforce skills to take advantage of growth in the commercial sector.

Public sector administration also remains a major contributor to local employment. NCN is a National Skills Academy for retail and a licensed partner of the National Skills Academy for logistics.

For the Creative, Cultural and Digital Industries cluster, the academies are media, music and digital, visual arts and fashion and performing arts and film.

Nottingham's Ultraband bid, if successful, will make the Lace Market a dynamic centre for new generation entertainment technologies, and we are instigating plans to bring our creative hubs together in one location in the Lace Market to add critical mass.

We are supporting small and medium-sized local manufacturers through innovative apprenticeships, for example in screen printing and technical textiles such as neoprene, and we will be launching the first Roland Music Academy in the East Midlands.

The Construction, Sustainability and Environmental Sciences cluster comprises construction, energy and environmental sciences academies.

This cluster will provide crucial training for imminent infrastructure projects, such as the tram-line extension, widening the A453 and the Hucknall town centre redevelopment.

NCN Basford Hall is a pilot site for a new generation of eco homes, and we are supporting E.ON's low-energy lighting project. Renewable energy systems specialists, Sasie, will be installing £250,000 of state-of-the-art equipment when it co-locates its training provision at NCN Basford Hall, and we have the opportunity for a unique civil engineering training facility – A-Plant Academy – at the campus in partnership with Ashtead Group and Grafton Group.

NCN is also a key partner in developing Higher Apprenticeships for the sustainable built environment which will equip local businesses with the skills needed to win tenders requiring green construction methods to BREEAM standards.

The Service Industries and the Visitor Economy Cluster comprises health and wellbeing, care and food, drink and visitor services academies – sectors which are central to Nottingham's future.

There are many opportunities for private companies to become involved in delivering improved health services, and we are working with Circle, Europe's largest healthcare partnership, to develop management skills at the QMC's Nottingham Treatment Centre.

We are also discussing with Alliance Boots the development of a ground-breaking Health and Wellbeing Training Academy located within the City's Enterprise Zone with ambitions to support up to 1,000 apprentices.

Our Adams training restaurant is a key resource for the development of a highly-skilled Nottingham workforce for the hospitality and catering industry, and Experience Nottinghamshire has invited us to work on an exciting project to create a visitor attraction in the Lace Market.

We believe that NCN has the capacity to make a major contribution to transforming the long-term economic prosperity of our city and county. Strategic partnerships with key organisations, including the city council, county council and D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership will be central to our success and ensure the training we provide has the maximum impact on the local economy.

The relocation of CBI East Midlands to NCN's city centre campus this month heralds a new collaboration between our organisations, resonating with our commitment to work more closely with the region's businesses to build a flexible highly-skilled labour market, and helping address rising unemployment.

NCN is one of five colleges leading the new Gazelle Group of colleges who are making enterprise the driving force of our new generation of students.

Gazelle colleges are investing £3m, backed by Gazelle entrepreneurs including Peter Jones from Dragons' Den, to transform the college educational experience, bringing a network of real-life entrepreneurial experience within reach of today's students. We are launching this on Thursday at an Energising Enterprise event with an invitation to 100 successful local entrepreneurs to share their experience and inspire the next generation.

An enterprise curriculum will feature strongly in the fifth cluster of Academic and Progression Studies which comprises sixth form, new opportunities, pathfinder and supported learning academies.

The enterprise curriculum will benefit students who want to go it alone and will equip tomorrow's employees with the skills, imagination, commitment and drive to make a success of their career and the businesses they work for. This cluster prepares students for progression to university and equips them with employability skills to be work-ready. It also supports those seeking to re-enter employment through work clubs, job shops and a range of courses designed to prepare job-seekers for apprenticeships and other employment opportunities through work experience and internships.

Our other initiatives include developing India's first technical training academy in New Delhi in partnership with a major private business group, and opening a higher education centre in the Lace Market.

Our ambition is to be a distinctive college, renowned for supporting economic development, mobilising communities and transforming lives. I'd like to use this opportunity to invite businesses throughout Notts to hear NCN's promise to support them – through excellence, employability and enterprise – to survive, grow and prosper.