Having industry-ready skills continues to be a pain point for manufacturers, a leading training provider in the Midlands has over 280 apprenticeship opportunities currently available to train the talent of tomorrow.
In-Comm Training operates a technical academy in Aldridge and the Marches Centre of Manufacturing & Technology (MCMT) in Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury.
It has recently embarked on a major recruitment drive to help bridge the current and future skills gap, and provide career opportunities for young people and more mature workers looking to change careers.
More than £7m has been invested in the three facilities that offer over 40,000 sqft of dedicated manufacturing training space, including the latest CNC machine tools, automation, robotics, metrology solutions and 3D printing.
The Manufacturer recently spoke to Matt Snelson, managing director at the Marches Centre of Manufacturing and Technology. “Here at the MCMT, our objective is to train people up to be industry-ready and really to change that impression and make manufacturing as attractive as it is.”
Earlier this month it was National Apprenticeship Week (4-8 March), to celebrate this we rounded up five positive stories surrounding UK manufacturing apprenticeships which you can read here.
“Companies are coming forward and saying they want to invest in apprentices, and that challenge has been overcome to a certain degree,” explained Gareth Jones, joint managing director at In-Comm Training.
“We now need to make sure that, as a region, we’ve got a pipeline of young people or more mature learners to fill them.”
Last year, we spoke to Maria Collins, who trained with In-Comm and now works at the Fradley site of Birmingham-based IMI Precision Engineering as a junior applications engineer. She continues to encourage school-leavers to consider more vocational routes.
Collins, who was named as ‘Outstanding Learner of the Year’ at the In-Comm Training Awards 2018, and was shortlisted for Young Manufacturer of the Year as part of last year’s The Manufacturer MX Awards in November said, “I liked manufacturing, and I saw a lot of my older friends go to uni and then they couldn’t get a job afterwards, so I decided to look down a more vocational route.”
Her advice to young people who are in a similar situation is, just do it. “Apprenticeships are fantastic for vocational learning,” she said. “If you are unsure, go for it because it is the best decision I made, and I don’t regret it for a second.”
There are currently 280 positions available over the three academies and these are for part and full-time courses with a job at a local manufacturer at the end of it. This enables learners to master skills from the best trainers, on advanced equipment and get paid for it.