A bid to create 150 new jobs in Cornwall's £120 million marine industry over the next three years has taken a step forward with the move into a new headquarters by Cornwall Marine Network, a marketing and training support agency.

The move marks a new chapter in the life of one of Falmouth Docks' oldest buildings. CMN is the first occupant of the "new" former Bridon Ropes building in the yard.

This is next door to Pendennis Shipyard, which had sold the 144-year-old Grade II listed building to the South West Regional Development Agency.

It is currently undergoing major restoration and will be formally opened by a Government minister in May.

It will be known as Marine South West's Falmouth Marine Skills Centre one of three in the region, along with Poole and Plymouth, and all located within a major cluster group of marine companies.

As well as basing all its own specialist activities there, CMN will act as a prime mover in generating training activity in the building.

It will work closely with training providers and the primary training partner will be Cornwall College, which has been granted the status of Centre of Vocational Excellence for Marine Training. The centre has been designed by St Ives-based Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole, architects involved in the Eden Project and National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

"We are delighted to have moved into what is going to be an absolutely fantastic new facility, a ringfenced centre of excellence for the training and support of every conceivable aspect of Cornwall's vital marine industry," said CMN chief executive Alan Shepherd.

The four-storey former Bridon Ropes building, also previously operated by British Ropes, was originally built in 1861 as a grain store storing grain from the Russian Black Sea and South America.

Bridon Ropes leased some of the floors to store ropes that had been made in the Rope Walk in Arwenack. It was also used as a pattern store/ shop for the forge in the Docks. It was retained by the Docks until purchased by Pendennis Shipyard in 1995.

The company used it as a canteen, electrical workshop, archive, engineering workshop and joinery workshop, where boat interiors were laid out.

In its new role, the building will be the only painting and finishing training centre in Europe and will be offered out on a pan-European basis.

Its training facilities will be designed to complement and enhance existing local provision and the building will provide good quality meeting space for marine businesses.

The centre will be "demand-led", working with local marine networks and overseen by a centre advisory group working closely with CMN to identify member training needs and then ensure cost-effective and quality training delivery.