18 | Aycliffe Today Business
Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 19
South West Durham Training chief executive Lee Childs with some
of SWDT’s apprentices, including: 3M mechanical and electrical
maintenance engineers Joseph Robson, from Shildon, and Joshua
Brown, from Ferryhill; Cummins maintenance engineers Thomas
Allen, from Skelton, and Callum Lessels, from Redcar; and GSK
multi-skilled engineers Adam Kicks, from Barnard Castle, and
Matthew Teare, from Heighington.
ALL
CHANGE
South West Durham Training chief executive Lee Childs talks to Martin Walker
about the centre’s bright new future following a number of exciting changes...
It’s all change at Aycliffe Business Park’s
oldest and most established training provider,
which celebrates its 50th year in 2017.
Since taking up the new role of chief
executive of South West Durham Training
(SWDT) last October, Lee Childs embarked
on introducing a number of changes at its
state-of-the-art, £3.6m training centre.
Now, as those changes come to fruition,
he’s excited at the prospect of a “new look”
SWDT which has already enjoyed an influx of
learners and new customers.
SWDT has completely re-arranged its
building, along Durham Way South, to
introduce a new commercial training centre
as well as new theory-based courses
including HNCs from September.
An extra 40 learners will undertake new
HNC and BTEC level three courses from
September, while a new commercial centre
will bring at least 100 more new learners
through the door to study bespoke and
employer relevant industrial training.
SWDT has also refurbished its learning
resource centre as well as investing heavily
in IT software and infrastructure.
More than £100,000 has been invested in
IT, while another £20,000 has been spent on
refurbishments and another £30,000 will be
spent on further improvements over the year.
SWDT, which employs 27 staff, has
completed its makeover by re-branding the
centre with a striking new logo and colour
scheme.
It has certainly enabled Childs, an engineer
from Shildon who served his time with
SWDT 16 years ago, to make his mark in less
than 12 months.
“We went through a strategic planning
process, where we discussed the direction
of the centre, what we were doing, why
we were doing it and what we thought
we should be doing moving forward,” says
Childs.
“As part of that process we’ve talked to
local companies and to students to get their
thoughts on how they perceive South West
Durham Training and what we should be
doing.”
There are three strands to SWDT’s
offering, including full-time courses and
apprenticeship provision.
The centre also offers theory-based
provision, including level 3 BTEC courses and
new HNC courses from September, as well
as Maths and English GCSE programmes.
But now SWDT has a new commercial
training centre, to accommodate courses
including fork-lift truck provision, while it’s
also developing programmes in electrical
safety, electrical maintenance, manual
handling and other compliance-based training
for industry.
“We’re now developing programmes to
cater for specific needs of clients,” says
Childs.
“So we’re currently working on a solution
for Siemens S7 PLC programming, and we’re
also developing hydraulics and pneumatics
programmes, as well as bespoke training
and apprenticeships in polymer processing.
There’s a real commercial element to the
centre now.
“Some of the training we do is off the
shelf and we have to stick to a certain
syllabus, but within the commercial offering
we’re trying to be more bespoke. For
example, we have three customers which
each require different models within their
electrical training – one needs a three-day
model, one a five-day model and the other
needs a 10-day model, so we’re changing the
curriculum and making it bespoke to each of
those individual companies.
“Everything we do is aligned to employers’
needs in the hope of plugging the skills gap
of today and tomorrow.”
Childs’ vision has brought about SWDT’s
biggest changes for many years.
“We now have three very distinct parts
of the site that will accommodate the three
different strings of the centre,” he adds.
“We’ve changed how the building works
and looks. The learner facilities will have
completely changed, including new locker
rooms and a renovated learning resource
centre with new learning materials and
facilities.
“We’ve also invested a lot of money in
our IT infrastructure and we’ve introduced
a virtual desktop interface (VDI), which
runs all of the software and networks on a
server remotely, and means we can log on
anywhere in the world and access all of the
software we have licensing for such as CAD
software.
“It will increase speed as well as giving us
greater accessibility for our learners.
“This has all come off the back of the
research that we’ve done with learners and
employers – we’ve listened to them and
what they want so we can deliver exactly
what they need.”
One of SWDT’s most exciting new
offerings is the HNC courses, available from
September.
Childs says: “We’ve brought it in as a
natural progression for the companies we’re
already working with.
“We’ve recruited a highly-motivated and
very experienced lecturer into the post
whom we’re very lucky to have on board.
“It’s enabling us to venture into the world
of higher apprenticeships, so the apprentices
we have now will start with a BTEC and
move on to the HNC and finish that at the
end of their three-and-a-half years with us.
“We can also look at HNDs and level 4
NVQ as a model for higher apprenticeship
delivery. We’re giving companies and
students the chance for them to move on to
higher education without the need to go to
university.”
The UK government has set a target of
creating three million new apprenticeships
by 2020 in a bid to boost skills and end youth
unemployment.
And earlier this year, SWDT welcomed
new apprentices from Hitachi Rail Europe
and 3M in Aycliffe, Darlington-based
Cummins, Stockton-based car parts
product design training centre, offering stateof-the-art facilities, was opened, and includes
high-tech equipment including 3D laser
scanners, laser cutters, rapid p rototyping
machines, routers, highly-automated and
flexible manufacturing systems, CNC lathes
and millers, floor standing pillar drills and an
industrial process control station.
Find out more about SWDT at
www.swdt.co.uk or call 01325 313194.
maker Nifco and Barnard Castle-based
pharmaceuticals giant GSK. All are on
engineering/manufacturing programmes
with bespoke elements required by their
employer, including hydraulics, pneumatics,
electrical, fabrication and welding.
SWDT now has more than 300 learners on
the books across all years and a number of
new customers.
Clients include other Aycliffe firms such
as Husqvarna, Senstronics and Ebac,
while SWDT also provides apprentices for
Darlington firm Mech Tool Engineering and
Spennymoor’s Thorn Lighting.
“We’re happy with what we’ve achieved
in such a small period of time, with very little
capital spend,” says Childs.
“We want to make our commercial
candidates as good as they possibly can be.
We’re investing in what we need but we’re
doing that wisely. And we’re also finding that
we we’re securing a lot of different work with
our existing customers, who are coming back
to us with specific needs.
“We’ve also taken on a new operations
manager, Stuart Dale, who has joined us
from Bishop Auckland College and comes
with an excellent track of record, and having
him on board from September will be a major
boost for the centre.
“They key is making sure we maintain our
levels of quality in terms of the training we
offer and the candidates we’re providing to
employers.”
SWDT, which is a subsidiary of Bishop
Auckland College, will next year celebrate its
50th anniversary as an engineering training
provider.
In 2011 its £3.6m manufacturing and
Plumbing centre offers
Gas Safe training
A plumbing and gas centre offering all
the key training accreditation needed by
domestic plumbers and gas engineers
has been officially opened by South West
Durham Training.
The Newton Aycliffe-based centre
caters for all domestic core gas safety
and appliances initial, reassessment and
training needs to meet Gas Safe Register
requirements, including CCN1, CENWAT,
CKR1, HTR1, MET1 and CPA1 assessment.
Training courses also include Unvented
Hot Water, Water Regulations (WRAS), Part
L Energy Efficiency and Legionella.
Electrical accreditation in Part P Full
Scope, 17th Edition and Initial Verification
Inspection and Testing is also offered,
alongside commercial courses in Forklift
Operator, Health & Safety, Hydraulics and
Welding Procedures.
The new centre is an extension of the
commercial training offer from South
West Durham Training, a subsidiary of
Bishop Auckland College which will next
year celebrate its 50th anniversary as an
engineering training provider.
The centre is offering package deals
and other special offers for initial bookings
before the end of April, and can access up
to £1,500 funding for firms who recruit a
plumbing apprentice.
Find out more about plumbing safety
courses at SWDT by calling 01325
313194.