Lloyds backs new £36m manufacturing training centre with £1m sponsorship

THE UK manufacturing sector has received a welcome shot in the arm with a decision by Lloyds Banking Group to launch a £1m-a-year sponsorship of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre at Coventry’s Manufacturing Technology Centre.

The centre is intended to address the sector’s skills gap and it will develop more than 1,000 engineering apprentices and trainees during the initial Lloyds Banking Group partnership. The building of the centre will begin in 2014 and it will open in 2015.  

The launch follows on from the UK Government’s announcement last week that it will provide £18m investment in an elite training facility at the MTC. This is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult initiative which is supported by the Technology Strategy Board and which works with companies from start-ups to listed manufacturing companies in developing innovative and next generation technology.
 
Currently the MTC is developing approximately 50 apprentices and trainees, with the apprentices aged between 16 and 19 and the trainees all graduates.  With the launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre, the MTC will now be able to focus on expanding the training programme to the next generation of engineers.

With the launch of the centre all apprentices will become Lloyds Manufacturing Scholars and will be registered with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). Apprentices will receive formal recognition from the IMechE as engineering technicians on graduation.

Those enrolled on the apprenticeship scheme will spend the first year of their apprenticeship in full time education at a local Further Education college, while 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: “We recognise the fundamental role that the manufacturing sector plays in rebalancing the UK economy and we are committed to provide access to finance and competitive rates of funding. 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.”
 
Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said: “If we are to compete in the global race for the best talent and skills we need to ensure we have the right training and opportunities in place. The launch of the Lloyds Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre is exactly the kind of initiative that we welcome if we are to create a truly world class innovative society that provides exciting opportunities for future engineers.”

Clive Hickman, Chief Executive, Manufacturing Technology Centre added: “We are delighted that Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to partner with us to launch our new Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre.  The sponsorship provided by Lloyds will enable over 1,000 trainees to benefit from our initiative and will help us to begin to redress the skills gap that is currently constraining the growth of manufacturing in the UK.”