The University of Reading recently held a ?topping out' ceremony to mark the structural completion of the new £6 million extension to its ICMA Centre.

The ICMA Centre has an international reputation for being the premier institution in Europe for undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education tailored to the capital markets industry. Due to open this autumn, the extension will include a 50-seat flagship dealing room, complete with Reuters plasma screens and ticker tape, 170-seat lecture theatre, café bar, media centre, a dedicated PhD study area as well as seminar rooms and offices.

Guests at the ceremony, held on the extension's roof, were key representatives from the University of Reading as well as Jerry Hayes, Project Manager for Costain Limited and Ian Thomas, Director for Gardiner & Theobald Management Services who are managing the build.

After the pouring of the final cement Brian Lawson, who sits on ICMA's Executive Education Committee, said: "ICMA feels a great sense of pride regarding the Centre's expansion as we move quickly towards completion of the new extension. The topping out transforms these ambitious plans into a tangible and exciting reality. Through the completion of the expanded ICMA Centre, and the University of Reading's new links with Henley Business School, a pre-eminent centre of global excellence in financial study is being established".

Professor John Board, Director of the University's ICMA Centre said: "The wonderful new extension is going to be of great benefit to our students, providing further excellent facilities to equip them with the skills valued by the finance industry. Our current facilities already make us the best-equipped institution in Europe. These new facilities including an additional 50-seat dealing room will enable us to cater for the growing number of students enrolling with us each year."