Ford has announced a new, state-of-the-art training centre for its national dealer network’s technicians, sales staff and management. The new facility will be based on the site of the manufacturer’s current Technical Training Centre in Daventry, Northamptonshire, merging its capabilities with the Henry Ford College in Loughborough.
The new facility, which Ford hopes will become a centre of excellence for training, will expand upon the Daventry site’s 150,000 square metre Parts Distribution Centre (PDC). It will include classrooms, a 200-seat auditorium and vehicle showroom, and will deliver courses to students taking Ford Masters Apprenticeship programmes as well as adult learners when it opens in early 2015.
The training centre’s construction is part of a multi-million pound investment, which will also see the introduction of a number of engineering and business apprenticeship programmes, adding to the 450 apprentices the company takes on each year.
Jon Wellsman, Director of Ford Customer Service Division, said, “With the latest Ford vehicles now demonstrating technology leadership, it is important that our dealer teams receive the highest quality technical and product training. This world-class new facility will enable us to do just that.”
To find out more about skills in the UK automotive industry, see SMMT’s 2014 Motor Industry Facts guide.
