A new training centre to run alongside the new Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry is set to address the industry’s current skills gap as well as develop more than 1000 engineering apprentices.
The 1000 apprentices will only be the first group to be trained during the new Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre’s initial sponsoring partnership from Lloyds Banking Group.
The bank has thrown its support behind the training centre, promising to contribute £1 million a year once the centre is built and opened in 2015.
This sponsorship follows on from the UK Government’s announcement last week that it will provide £18 million investment in an elite training facility at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). This is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult initiative supported by the Technology Strategy Board, which works with companies from startups to listed manufacturers in developing new technology.
Currently the MTC is developing about 50 apprentices and trainees aged between 16 and 19.
Further details of the apprenticeship scheme include:
- Apprentices will spend the first year of their apprenticeship in full time education at a local Further Education college
- Their second year will be spent at the MTC, with years three and four either spent at the MTC or in a placement at a manufacturing company based in the Midlands
- During years three to four, the apprentices will spend one day a week at the Lloyds Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre
- The Centre will develop skills to ensure long-term employment for these apprentices
Andrew Bester, CEO, Commercial Banking, Lloyds Banking Group said: “By launching this Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre we aim to address other key concerns within the sector including the skills deficit and employment opportunities. Working with the MTC, in a state of the art training centre, we are optimistic that we will develop the next generation of world-leading engineers.”
