This year has brought huge promise, with vast investment in heavy vehicle training facilities across the UK, including the opening of a numerous state-of-the-art technical training academies – in Derby, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield, and Warwick – all reflecting an industry that’s preparing its workforce for the future.
Schemes that strengthen technician expertise and career prospects, equipping them with the skills and knowledge required to carry out repairs on conventional and emerging vehicle technologies, are essential to stay ahead of change happening on the road. For manufacturers delivering such schemes, meanwhile, they are feeding long-term skills into their own dealer workforce as well as the wider industry.
Industry investment in skills has long preceded 2025, however, which is why we’re already seeing growth in the number of graduates – and last week I was delighted to attend one of the largest graduation ceremonies for heavy vehicle technician and parts apprentices to date, with more than 120 individuals receiving well-earned applause from a packed ballroom.
Employers have a pivotal role in identifying and addressing their future skills needs but government backing and supportive policy levers are also necessary. SMMT looks forward to working with both government departments now responsible for skills policy, therefore, after last month’s reshuffle with the Department of Education responsible for under-19s and the Department for Work and Pensions for over-19s.
Indeed, skilled young people are key to our long-term success but so can be career changers and returners, as SMMT’s joint STEM Returners Project with the aerospace sector makes clear. We must be open people from all backgrounds and experience given the significant skills needs our industry faces – from electric and hydrogen to automated and other technologies further on the horizon.
