The new 15,000ft2 building, which will also house a new office suite, will double the size of AMS’s premises and should be completed by the new year.
According to joint managing director Steve McGloin, the company is undertaking the expansion in response to "rapidly increasing demand for training".
"Obviously servicing, spare parts, machinery rebuild and sales are the core of our business," he said.
"But on the back of servicing, we’ve had more and more enquiries for training. Until now, we’ve had to undertake a lot of it at customers’ premises. But now we can offer our own focused facility, which effectively combines classroom and proper production environments."
The training is being undertaken in association with provider Didac, with which AMS started a partnership three years ago, a relationship that the former’s managing director Jon Gibson said had since "grown and matured".
"The new facility will also be an effective hub for them to serve training needs in the Midlands and north, complementing their Bristol base," said Mr McGloin. "The courses range from basic instruction, to full apprenticeship training and are all fully accredited and HSE-recognised."
The 14 machines in the academy showroom, which will all be ready to use and connected to a new dust extraction system, will range from small classical models to multi-head moulders.
"We will also offer CNC router and CAD/CAM training, in association with a major CNC machine manufacturer that we’re currently aligning with," said Mr McGloin.
AMS’s service and sales business has also been growing, he added.
"We’re now up to a team of 18, including 12 engineers, and have been talking with South West Leicester College about taking on apprentices," he said. "Our sales, particularly second-hand machinery, have been ahead of budget and our rebuild business is booked to next May."
