Forklift Training Warwickshire

Toyota partners with college to recruit apprentices

Toyota Material Handling UK has teamed up with North Warwickshire & Hinckley College to recruit and develop new apprentices to work within the Toyota organisation.

The College is one of only two in the country to offer specialised forklift truck apprenticeships. It hosted an apprenticeship recruitment event, where candidates were invited to meet members of the training teams from Toyota and the College.

The new recruits, who will work in different locations within Toyota across the country, will study at the college in two-week blocks five times a year. While there, they will be based at the dedicated Fork Lift Truck training centre at Nuneaton's Bermuda Park where they will engage in a range of training and work towards their technical certificate.

Jackie Shelton, apprenticeship manager at the college, said: "Toyota is an industry leader in materials handling and we are absolutely thrilled to be working with them to deliver this exciting new apprenticeship programme. The successful candidates can look forward to working for a fantastic company and at the same time accessing training from an Ofsted outstanding College."

Ken Williams, training officer at Toyota Material Handling, said: "Successful apprenticeship programmes which deliver the very best training and opportunities to apprentices are built on strong working partnerships. We are working closely with the College to ensure that the apprentices get a great start in their forklift truck careers. The recruitment event gave the candidates a great opportunity to learn more about our industry and take part in some engaging and challenging tasks."

Reflecting the spirit of partnership working Toyota has already donated a number of items to the College training centre including a reach truck and a gas forklift.

Shelton added: "We are very grateful for the equipment that has been donated and for the time that members of Toyota will be giving to our own staff as they seek to continually improve and learn new skills to keep on providing outstanding training to learners.

Fork lift apprenticeship breakthrough – FLTA celebrates as 10-year ...

Responding to the worsening shortage of budding service engineers entering the industry, the FLTA has spent almost a decade developing an apprenticeship scheme that meets the unique engineering challenges presented when working on a fork lift truck.

Working with partners Retail Motor Industry Training (ReMIT) and North Warwickshire & Hinckley College, the FLTA has developed a course entitled “Vehicle Maintenance & Repairs (Lift Trucks)” which is accredited by the Institute of Motor Industries (IMI); a body that already provides officially accredited apprentice training for cars, vans, lorries and a range of other vehicles.

FLTA chief executive David Ellison explains: “It has been a marathon effort by all involved to devise an apprentice programme flexible enough to respond to the needs of the fork lift truck industry, while also meeting shifting policy criteria.

“These days, lift trucks are almost unique in the level and sheer variety of engineering skills they demand, as well as the pace of innovation and improvement in the technology. It all makes for an exciting syllabus – and one we’ll need to update on a regular basis.”

UK market leader Linde Material Handling has already announced that it will register no fewer than 16 apprentices for the first year of the new course, while students already enrolled for the FLTA’s highly successful lift truck apprenticeship pilot scheme will be transferred free of charge.

David Ellison continues: “Our industry needs high quality engineers, and it’s no secret that many are beginning to approach retirement. That means we have an urgent need for bright, enthusiastic recruits – and I’m sure this new course will deliver exactly that.

“I fully expect a large number of dealerships will want to benefit from this inexpensive and highly effective way of bringing fresh young talent into our industry and will make significant numbers of placements available.

“Similarly, I hope companies using fork lift trucks will be delighted if their usual engineer arrives with an apprentice in tow – after all, it shows a forward-thinking company who has your long-term service in mind.

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