Commission with world class skills mission gears up

Two weeks before the launch of the new UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), its Chief Executive Chris Humphries will today (17th March) visit BMW UKís training academy to see for himself why itís just been hailed by Ofsted as ìworld classî.

It is the first of many visits to be made by the Commission, which officially launches on April 1st, as it works to help the UK become a leader in employment, skills and productivity. Mr Humphries will be joined by two of the new commissioners, Valerie Todd and Murray Coleman, appointed to the board of the UKCES chaired by Sir Mike Rake, Chair of BT.

Primarily advisory in nature, the UKCES will secure employers a pivotal role in ensuring the UKís employment and skills system responds to the needs of business and public services. Mr Humphries said: ìI want to listen and learn from employers about what they are doing to invest in skills training and to celebrate best practice. My visit to BMW UK is very far from being a meet and greet. I want to find out exactly what makes their skills training world class.î

BMW UK invested 17 million in building the BMW Group Academy UK at Wokefield Park near Reading two years ago to tackle skills gaps in the industry. It runs a wide variety of technical and management courses for its 150 BMW, MINI and Motorcycle dealerships around the UK. Business benefits have included improved recruitment and retention of skilled technicians against a backdrop of skills shortages in the automotive sector. It has reduced staff turnover to under 10 per cent among service technicians and seen the rate of apprentice drop-outs fall by half.

The site also boasts the only licensed Brand Academy outside Munich to cultivate a knowledge and understanding of the brand among its employees, from apprentice to sales manager.

Ofsted inspectors said in a report released today that the academy provided ìworld class training with highly technical resources supporting dealership workforce needs. Achievement rates for NVQs at level 2 are 100 per cent on most programmes. Retention rates over this year and the previous two years are particularly high at over 90 per cent.î

Mr Humphries said: ìThis is a prime example of how an employer can drive workforce training and ensure employees have the right qualifications. The motor trade is fiercely competitive but BMW UK is showing how employers can reap the tangible benefits of investing in training ñ both in terms of the bottom line and the reputation.î

He will tour the academy and meet apprentices, trainers and directors, including Steve Nash, Aftersales Director for BMW Group UK, who is also Chairman of The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), which is the Sector Skills Council for the automotive retail industry and the professional association for individuals working in the motor industry.

He said: ìThe motor industry is proving that it is a world away from the outdated ëunderneath the archesí image projected in TV soaps. Itís a high tech business and, thanks to these kinds of training programmes, is being driven by a new breed of extremely well qualified people.î

He said the academy was particularly keen to recruit more women on to its courses like 23 year-old Serena Depradine who has just qualified as a BMW Service Technician and works at its Park Lane dealership.

BMW apprentices are employed from the start of their programme in technical or sales roles at high-street dealerships where they learn on-the-job with support from workplace mentors and assessors. This is underpinned by academy training weeks.

Those who have benefited include 22 year-old Irfan Khan who was the 7,000th technician to achieve the Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) standard, which is governed by the IMI. ATA is the first national scheme to test the current competence of vehicle technicians, of which BMW was a founding partner. Another former apprentice, Charlie Hill, overcame Attention Deficit Disorder to win BMW Group Academy UKís ëBest Improver of the Yearí.