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Siemens awards blade training to Hull

By: Tom Russell 07/09/2015 Siemens

General Turbines Windfarms

Siemens has announced the award of a key contract to Hull College to train workers for the company’s new wind turbine blade factory in Hull.

The contract, which is worth around £1m, will see the conversion of an existing college facility to deliver training to the blade factory workforce over the next two years and support the company's ongoing training needs as it establishes a new industry for the UK in the city.

As part of the deal, Hull College Group will invest £400,000 to upgrade and re-equip the Construction Skills Centre on Hull’s Preston Road estate, which is just two miles from the factory site at Alexandra Dock. The centre will be renamed the Hull College Group Composites Training Centre.

The facility will become one of just two in the UK which specialises in manufacturing skills using composite materials – the other being the National Composites Centre in Bristol. Siemens’ blades are a composite of balsa wood, glass fibre and resin.

Siemens selected Hull College Group from four local training providers following a thorough bidding process involving extensive information gathering and evaluation. This involved the training providers visiting Siemens’ blade factory in Aalborg, Denmark, and Aalborg Technical College, which has a long established training relationship with Siemens.

Under the deal, a successful training programme from the Aalborg college will be replicated in Hull, with the Hull centre becoming a sister training facility to the Danish operation. All 800 operational staff hired to work in the blade factory will undergo five weeks of training at the Hull College facility, with the first recruits trained from March 2016.

A further two weeks of specialist training, delivered by Siemens staff, will prepare recruits for specific roles. Finally, a further eight weeks of hands-on training will ensure staff are ready to work in the factory, which is due to open in September 2016. Depending on specific job roles, this training will take place in a converted warehouse at Alexandra Dock or, if training in a factory environment is essential, at the Aalborg factory.

Siemens' UK Head of Skills Martin Hottass said: “We are pleased to announce that we have selected our delivery partner for the first major piece of training for our facilities in Hull. This is part of a comprehensive training programme, but we will do all the training that we can locally, delivered by local people.We will award further training contracts in due course and we anticipate working with local providers once more.”

Hull College Group Chief Executive Gary Warke said: “We are delighted to be chosen by Siemens to be their preferred partner to deliver a highly-skilled workforce to meet their training requirements for the significant investment in the renewables sector in our local economy. Siemens has made a strong commitment to hiring locally, buying locally and training locally and this announcement is real evidence of their confidence in the high quality of our bespoke training locally."

Warke added “Investing with Hull College Group, enabling the development of an industry-leading facility and committing to put 800 people through training here is a massive demonstration of Siemens’ commitment to the city and local community.”

Siemens' Hull Project Director Finbarr Dowling said: "This training partnership with Hull College Group is a crucial part of our strategy to develop a highly-skilled local workforce for the worldclass facilities we are establishing in Hull. We are delighted that we will be working with a highly-respected local training provider to equip our new employees with valuable skills and that this training will be delivered in Hull.”

Siemens is due to begin large-scale recruitment for the blade factory later this month and will soon hold a series of careers events which will enable people to find out all they need to know about the jobs that will be available.

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Siemens awards blade training to Hull

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