Warwick centre will train engineers of the future

A major step towards tackling skills shortages facing employers in the engineering sector has been taken with the opening of a new £3million training centre at Warwick Trident College.

Nick Rogers, Group Director Engineering at Jaguar Land Rover, officially opened the centre which has been purpose-built to train hundreds of advanced and higher apprentices in the manufacturing, mechanical, electrical, electronic, automotive and product creation sectors.

Over 200 apprentices from firms ranging from Jaguar Land Rover to SMEs are already enjoying facilities which include engineering workshops, teaching and computer labs and specialist engineering technology labs tailored to courses offered by the college.

The building was part-funded by £1.3m from the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, the first skills capital project funded by the Growth Deal.

The opening ceremony also saw Warwickshire College Group officially announced as a partner in the Jaguar Land Rover Academy, alongside the University of Warwick and manufacturers' organisation EEF. This new Academy defines career development programmes for all employees and aims to provide the skills the company needs.  

Angela Joyce, Group Principal and CEO at Warwickshire College Group believes the new centre will provide the perfect springboard for the careers of aspiring engineers.

“Our role as a college group is to support the local economy and to meet the skills and educational needs of our localities - and apprentices are key to this," Angela said. "We now have even more capacity to train the engineers of the future that the country needs.

“I am also delighted that we are now a partner in the Jaguar Land Rover Academy. As a partner, we can bring our expertise in apprenticeships, education and training to help support the JLR staff at all stages of their professional development.”

Richard Hutchins, board lead of the Jobs & Skills Business Group at the CWLEP and director of Jaguar Land Rover Programmes at WMG, said: “The Growth Deal is investing in schemes across Coventry and Warwickshire and the opening of Warwick Trident College will help to improve the skills of the next generation of apprentices in the area.

“Improving technical and engineering skills is one of the CWLEP’s key strategies and the skills the students learn will prove beneficial in their careers as well as providing employers with work-ready employees.

“The facilities at the college are fantastic and will further enhance Coventry and Warwickshire’s reputation as a world-class area in advanced manufacturing and engineering.”

Warwickshire College Group offers a range of apprenticeships in a variety of industries. For more information call 0300 456 0049 or go to www.warwickshire.ac.uk.