- Global opportunities within the automotive industry at careers day
- Superb show success for British supercar specialist, Noble
- Demand for personal plates as strong as ever
Global opportunities within the automotive industry at careers day
Hundreds of enthusiastic young people flocked to The Sunday Times Motor Show Live Careers Day today (Tuesday 1 June), to experience first-hand the exciting opportunities a career in the automotive industry has to offer.
Amongst the young crowd was Baroness Cathy Ashton, Minister of Education: `It is very important that young people see the many opportunities in engineering and manufacturing and there is no where better to see this than The Motor Show,’ she commented. `The Motor Show is a fantastic opportunity for young people to see what is available in the industry and gain understanding of its many different aspects, from engineering and manufacturing to supplier services and even automotive journalism.’
Young visitors made their way around the halls making the most of the unique opportunity of speaking with apprentices and manufacture representatives face to face. Regional Training Manager for Toyota Academy, Gary Harlock, commented: `The enthusiasm from youngsters is phenomenal! Toyota’s apprenticeship scheme receives approximately 150 applicants annually but the Careers Day has probably just doubled this number.’
`This year we have 40 apprentices graduating as fully licensed Toyota Technicians,’ enthused Gary. `These graduates have been awarded the Toyota Passport, which allows them to work in any Toyota plant globally, an opportunity that most young people just wouldn’t gain access to.’
Volvo is also leading the way for young people: `The industry has changed over the last ten years, with a greater emphasis placed on finding the right calibre of people for the industry. It’s all about the people you have,’ commented David Baddeley, UK Training and Development manager for Volvo.
‘We have had a good number of the right type of person visit us today – and that’s an enthusiastic person. We are looking for apprentices that are truly interested, that display tenacity, work hard and have an aptitude for the industry.’
`We want to help young people grow and develop within the industry and the Motor Show is a great place to recruit enthusiastic apprentices. It’s large, colourful and exciting, which inspires young people to think how exciting the industry can be. The Motor Show can only do good!’
Superb show success for British supercar specialist, Noble
Noble, the independent British specialist sports car manufacturer are a resounding success story at The Sunday Times Motor Show Live.
Since debuting onto the world stage at press day last week, orders for the new M14 have exceeded all expectation. Over 30 eager customers have already placed a deposit and are looking forward to receiving the new model in nine to twelve months.
Stewart Jones, Sales Director at Noble commented, `The show has been phenomenally successful for us on two counts. We have received extremely favourable press coverage whilst here and the number of genuine customers visiting the stand has been really impressive.’
The M14, which aims to firmly establish Noble at the quality end of the supercar market, join the M400 and M12.
Lead by founder, Managing Director and Chief Designer Lee Noble, the small company based in Barwell, Leicestershire, which only launched five years ago, employs 30 local specialist engineers to produce their finely crafted machines.
On what makes them successful Jones commented, `We completely involve our customers in the process of buying and owning a Noble. We like to invite them to come and collect their car from the factory and meet the team who built it. We offer a high level of after care and many of our customers have direct relationships with Lee and the rest of the team. I think it’s this personal service which keeps our clients loyal and happy.’
One such happy customer is London based company director Justin Fielding. He’s at the front of the queue to receive a new M14 having placed an order without even sitting in the car! Fielding had been pestering the Noble team for news of their new model for weeks. Jones, without revealing anything, told him to look in Auto Car last week for the first released information.
Fielding rushed to the newsagents on Tuesday morning to see details of the exciting new model and was on the phone to Jones by 7.30am, this time to place an order!
On being a Noble customer Fielding commented, `British design and engineering is really important to me. Noble always support their customers and provide an impeccable service. I’m delighted to be buying the new M14, now I just need to decide what colour to have it in!’
Demand for personal plates as strong as ever
A flurry of activity was seen at the DVLA stand this morning as the new 54 number plates went on sale. With a starting price of £499, the plates, which will be road legal from September 1, follow the new registration format introduced in 2001.
The layout allows two letters in front of the number 54 and three after. In total there are six million combinations available! Visitors to the stand can use the touch screen system to search out their dream plate. Once they find their perfect number the fun system asks users to input a car of their choice before producing a digitally enhanced picture showing how the plate will look on the vehicle.
DVLA Stand Manager Damien Lawson told us, `Anyone buying a new car can choose a new plate. Once they’ve made a purchase all they need do is take it along to their dealer who will look after the paperwork. After that, the next time they’ll see their plate is on their new car when they go to collect it.’
