GLOBAL FIRM, LOCAL SKILLS
Hitachi Rail Europe’s success means growth, and its 1,000th employee has just begun work at its manufacturing facility in Newton Aycliffe.
The facility, which celebrated its first anniversary in early September, is one of several sites across the UK operated by Hitachi Rail Europe. Just ten years ago, it was opening its first office in the UK in London.
Emma Dixon is the company’s 1,000th recruit. Prior to joining Hitachi Rail Europe, Dixon, from Spennymoor, worked in retail. As well as her most recent retail experience, Dixon has experience in manufacturing in the electrical arena. She says: “It’s a great opportunity for me. I’m now looking forward to a rewarding career.”
Initially, her tasks will involve working on the assembly of Intercity Express Programme trains, AT200 Class 385 electric multiple units for Abellio ScotRail and a fleet of bi-mode AT300s for TransPennine Express.
But Dixon will not be the last member of staff to join the company at Newton Aycliffe. Hitachi Rail Europe says her arrival is just the beginning of a wave of new activity at the facility, which will take the number employed there to more than 900. A further 150 skilled roles have been created, including 50 apprentices. These additional roles are required for contracts Hitachi Rail Europe has won in recent months.
The North East is not the only region where Hitachi’s presence is expanding. It has built depots at Stoke Gifford, near Bristol, and at Doncaster.
The company believes that these depots, along with Swansea Malliphant and North Pole, will facilitate future contracts for rolling stock and related multi-year agreements for train maintenance. The construction and expansion of these depots mean Hitachi Rail Europe will have more than 2,000 employees by the end of 2019.
It has made a big commitment to the UK, to the point that on September 8 the Newton Aycliffe University Technical College opened with substantial funding from Hitachi Rail Europe as it commits to developing engineering skills. The partnership with the college is consistent, the company highlights, with its ethos of offering a long-term social return and commitment to local communities.
Karen Boswell, managing director at Hitachi Rail Europe, says: “We have a fantastic foothold in the market working with the UK rail industry’s largest rolling stock customers and operators, and together we’re delivering some of the most important contracts in rail history.
“Over the next three years, with stateof-the-art manufacturing and service delivery facilities up and down the country, we’ll meet the demands for faster trains and extra capacity, and help the industry to deliver the biggest programme of rail modernisation in over 100 years.
“To achieve our plan, HRE is continuing to build a talented team of people who are coming from a diverse range of careers and backgrounds. Our 1,000th UK employee is a significant milestone, and we have clear goals and a strategy to grow our business and double our workforce by the end of 2019.”