Royal opening for Tarmac’s new industry-leading training centre
HRH The Duke of Cambridge officially opens National Skills and Safety Park in Nottinghamshire
AN innovative training facility for people working in the construction materials sector has been officially opened by His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge.
Tarmac’s new National Skills and Safety Park, located at Nether Langwith Quarry, near Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, will provide first-class practical training for emerging industry talent, including apprentices, graduates and those retraining from other sectors.
Marking the official opening of the industry-leading facility, His Royal Highness met with a number of Tarmac’s young apprentices to learn more about their roles and career ambitions.
The Duke got first-hand experience of Tarmac’s 100 year-long expertise in road building at the helm of a cutting-edge paving machine, as well as being introduced to apprentices in the training centre’s maintenance workshop and trying his hand on one of the company’s quarrying excavator simulators.
Martin Riley, senior vice-president of Tarmac, who started his own career in construction as an apprentice, commented: ‘It was an honour to welcome His Royal Highness to our new facility, which is already helping people begin a career in construction and those already established in the sector to develop new skills.
‘Major infrastructure programmes are the foundations on which the construction industry and its supply chain are built, providing exciting and rewarding career opportunities for people from all walks of life across the UK who can help shape the built environment of the future. We’re extremely proud to launch this new facility.’
The Duke also joined a meeting with chairs, chief executive officers and managing directors of leading UK businesses at Tarmac’s National Skills and Safety Park to discuss joint opportunities for UK companies to support social mobility and to improve the options available to young people in all parts of British society. The discussions were hosted by former MP Justine Greening, co-founder of The Social Mobility Pledge, and John Whelan MBE.
The opening of the new facility forms part of Tarmac’s ongoing commitment to upskilling young people, with over 300 of the company’s existing staff currently undertaking apprenticeship programmes.
The business is also proud to be a member of the ‘5% Club’ – an organization committed to ensuring that in the next five years around 5% of its UK workforce will be young people on training schemes.
Tarmac are one of a number of mineral extraction companies to have developed bespoke training programmes that allow their current workforce to benefit and further develop professionally whilst supporting the industry’s next generation of talent.
Describing the new facility as an ideal operational site, where new trainees/apprentices will be able to gain hands-on practical experience and first-class training, Katie Barrett, National Skills and Safety Park trainer for Tarmac, said: ‘Sometimes the best way to learn about something is to see it in action, and the training centre gives graduates, trainees and apprentices real-time learning opportunities and experiences of the operational nature of our business.
‘We are the first construction materials firm in the UK to develop such a facility and have clearly demonstrated that Tarmac are leaders in the development of industry and academic partnerships, as well as raising staff competency levels and training in both technical skills and behavioural safety.’
