Second site for EEF’s city training hub to open soon
MANUFACTURERS’ organisation EEF has reached the final stages of its second site at its technology training centre in Aston.
Called the Technology Hub, it is part of a further £5 million investment into the centre, which will increase the number of apprentices it trains from 250 to over 400 a year when fully operational.
It takes EEF’s total investment at the Birmingham-based apprentice training centre to £11 million.
The Technology Hub is scheduled to open its doors later this year and will incorporate a number of learning zones dedicated to developing key technological skills, including robotics, electronics and rapid prototyping.
It will have a suite for computer-aided design, an automated factory and an industry standard tool room.
It is hoped the project will keep the centre at the forefront of new manufacturing and engineering technologies and help apprentices continue to learn both traditional and cuttingedge techniques.
The new centre will also host EEF’s new leadership skills and manufacturing hub which will strive to play a key role in ensur- ing UK manufacturing stays at the forefront of the so-called “fourth industrial revolution”.
The technology training centre was officially opened in April 2014 by Perry Barr MP and former engineer Khalid Mahmood.
It currently works in partnership with more than 80 employers and recently expanded its apprenticeship programme to include higher apprenticeships for the first time which are aimed at those with A-levels and lead to a degree.
EEF is working with companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, Severn Trent Water, Ishida Europe and Tarmac to fill their apprentice vacancies.