Cheadle-based Klarius Products is offering aspiring young professionals the chance to build a career in engineering, with the business hiring four new apprentices. The largest UK manufacturer of aftermarket exhausts, Klarius is looking for applicants to join its Administration, Maintenance, Technical and Quality departments.
The Covid-19 pandemic may have caused the biggest financial crisis of a generation as well as record spending and borrowing levels, but economic highlights aren’t as bad as was expected and UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak isn’t raising taxes as fast as feared. Here, Tyres & Accessories takes a look at the main points pertaining to the tyre business and specifically: the furlough extension, the corporation tax increase, continued business rates holiday, and the introduction of freeports.
The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers in the UK, has welcomed the Prime Minister’s “Skills Speech”, given at Exeter College yesterday. Boris Johnson said: “So I can announce today that we will be expanding apprenticeships, reforming the system so that unspent funds can be used more easily to support apprenticeships not just in big companies, but in the SMEs where there is so much potential for job creation”.
On 16 January 2019 Remit Group invited representatives from OEMs, tyre manufacturers, equipment suppliers and the media to its existing Derby training academy in order to learn more about the organisation’s forthcoming “Derby 2” training academy. Tyres & Accessories joined representatives from the likes of MAN, Scania, Michelin, Autogem to name just a few in order to find out more.
A new initiative driven by the NTDA will see 75 apprentices work towards the new Specialist Tyre Operative standard this year.
The Independent Garage Association (IGA) is making apprentice funding, recruitment and retention clearer for independent garages with the publication of The Garage Guide to Recruiting an Apprentice.
Findings from Drive My Career’s latest Insight revealed that 95 per cent of apprentices would remain with the same company if they received a job offer after their apprenticeship.
One of the UK’s leading lubricant manufacturers has demonstrated its commitment to developing the next generation of talent by extending its apprenticeship programme. Fuchs Lubricants currently has 13 apprentices operating from its UK headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, and the search is on for more youngsters to join the growing team.
As the motor industry shifts towards a connected, electrified future, many roles within the sector have evolved beyond recognition. Jason Ratcliffe, level four master technician at Rybrook Volvo in Warrington, puts the spotlight on how the role of a vehicle technician has transformed significantly in the short time since he embarked on Volvo Car UK’s apprentice scheme aged 16.
Halfords Autocentres has expanded its apprenticeship scheme with a new five-year plan and a 2019 investment of more than £800,000. This includes both an Apprenticeship and Halfords Technical Training Academy programme. Halfords said the extension is a response to both the growing demand for hybrid and electric cars in the UK, and the country’s scarcity of automotive skills.
Michelin has opened applications for the five trainee places available in its 2019 intake, with roles available in engineering and business administration in Stoke-on-Trent. Michelin’s apprenticeship programme was launched in 1927. The tyre manufacturer states that it “underpins the culture of the company overall, providing a springboard for trainees to start their careers through a tailored mix of training and work experience.”
Autoparts Garage Equipment apprentices Louis Kane and Darren McCaig have won the Glasgow Apprenticeship Challenge, fighting off stiff competition from companies across the city.
MIRA Technology Institute, a partnership between North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, HORIBA MIRA, Coventry University, Loughborough University and the University of Leicester has detailed a suite of apprenticeships that will underpin their ambition to help the UK develop the next generation of skilled engineers.
On 25 October, the government set out how apprenticeships will be funded as part of the drive to help millions get the skills they need for a successful career. The new reforms will guarantee support from employers and government, and ultimately boost our economic productivity.
“The announcement from the Department for Education on apprenticeship funding is positive news for the smaller bodyshops (less than 50 employees) in the sector”, comments Jason Moseley, Director of RMI Bodyshops (NAB & VBRA), the UK’s trade association for vehicle repairers.
“We are pleased to see that the government has responded to some of the points that have been raised regarding the new apprenticeship levy, however, we are still concerned with the short timescale of implementation”, said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association which represents commercial vehicle and franchised car retailers across the UK.
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