SIR Patrick Stewart brought some Hollywood sparkle to the opening of a multi-million pound building.

The Mirfield-born actor officially opened the £17m Business School at the University of Huddersfield yesterday.

Sir Patrick, who is chancellor of the university, welcomed the new building on Firth Street.

He told staff and students: “We really mean business here at the University of Huddersfield and this splendid new building makes the point.

“In the short time that it has been up and running, the new Business School has already proved its worth.

“And of course the Business School was a substantial investment for the university – a £17m investment not only in real estate but in the future of the students, from Britain and overseas, who will pass through these doors, sit in these seminar rooms and lecture theatres, and even act out mini-dramas in the mock court room – an absolutely fascinating feature of the building.”

Sir Patrick added that the new Business School building was part of a wider redevelopment of the campus.

“It is the latest in a sequence of stunningly well-designed and built additions to the university campus,” he said.

“I cannot believe that any town-based university in the country has such an attractive campus as we do, with its inspirational mixture of the new and the old with a ribbon of waterway running through it.”

The Hollywood star believes the Business School is doing a good job for its thousands of students.

Sir Patrick said: “We pride ourselves on the employability of our graduates and one of the ways we achieve this is to foster close links with business and the professions.

“The Business School is a prime example of this and this new building is a wonderful base for its expanding programme of collaborations.

“We have fruitful co-operation with employers including the West Yorkshire Fire Service, the NHS and Royal Mail, not to mention some leading firms in the fields of law and accountancy.

“May the University of Huddersfield’s Business School continue to go from strength to strength in this fine new building, which I have enormous pleasuring in declaring well and truly open for business.”

The four-storey building is linked to the original Business School by a curved block.

The expansion added 4,000 square metres to the school when it opened in September.

The £17m school was built on the site of Albany Mill on Firth Street.

BAM Construction used 90% of the 19th Century building in the new structure.