Young engineers in the North West have been given the opportunity to gain further skills thanks to an impressive donation by a Lancashire manufacturer.
Fort Vale Engineering donated their own recently replaced equipment to apprentices at Blackburn-based group training association Training 2000. The new CNC machine, which is worth around £9,000, gives students a chance to practise their trade on an industry-standard machine.
Larger and more powerful, the machine uses a different operating system to the rest of the CNC’s within the already impressive engineering facility at Training 2000. The new technology allows learners to expand their skills and meet the continuously evolving needs of employers.
Alan Emerton, Training Manager at Fort Vale explained the move;
“Apprentices are a key part of our business. We believe young people have great abilities, but to innovate they need the latest technology, which is why we need to supply the tools that they will be using in a real work situation. ”
The company is passionate about the value of apprentices, as two former Training 2000 apprentices sit on Fort Vale’s Board and Andy Bryce, Director of Innovation for Fort Vale is himself a former Training 2000 learner:-
“We have taken on apprentices for the past 38 consecutive years. As a successful company committed to continuous improvement, we believe it’s important to give something to the next generation of engineers and support the valuable training of our young people.”
