Aycliffe-based South West Durham Training (SWDT), celebrating its 50th year in 2017, is now delivering bespoke apprenticeship pack-ages to accommodate the needs of business employers including Hitachi Rail Europe, Circor Energy, Ebac and Husqvarna. SWDT says changes to the way apprenticeships are funded have created new opportunities to deliver a range of different modules, as opposed to the inflexible framework previously on offer.
Chief executive Lee Childs, an engineer from Shildon who served his time with SWDT 17 years ago, said: “As part of the changes to apprenticeships and the levy, there is now more funding available. We’ve already discovered how we can adapt and make our apprenticeships more bespoke, but it also means we can build in extra training needed by employers. “There are gaps in apprenticeships that we’ve recognised, such as quality engineering. which are very difficult to recruit without paying over the odds. We are also training apprentices in engineering with modules in purchasing, procurement, quality assurance and business improvement techniques. SWDT is working closely with Hitachi Rail, which is building the next generation of trains. Callum Worrall and Ben Butler, both 21 from Darlington, have been with Hitachi since September 2015 while studying quality engineering technical support with SWDT.
Ben said: “While working with Hitachi we do quality inspection, so as parts come in we check and inspect them against standards and either pass or fail them accordingly. “I’m really enjoying it and it’s exciting to be part of a new company in a new factory.” Callum added: “When we started with the company I think there were about 150 people working there, now there’s more than 900 with more to come. The production has really ramped up and its really busy.” SWDT, a subsidiary of Bishop Auckland College employs 27 staff. It works with 3M, Cummins, Nifco, GSK, Mech Tool Engineering among others, and has more than 300 learners on its books. Find out more about SWDT at www.swdt.co.uk or call 01325 313194.
