MP welcomes new food training facility as apprentice capacity doubles at site
10 Jul 2019
Redditch MP Rachel Maclean officially opened engineering training provider MGTS’s purpose-built facility for engineering food maintenance and food process manufacturing at its training site in the town.
The provision by MGTS (Midland Group Training Services) doubles its capacity to train apprentices in the food industry sector, from 50 to 100.
Maclean said: “It was a real honour to open MGTS' new centre today. I was inspired by the apprentices I spoke to who are a real credit to MGTS. They are our future workforce and it's fantastic to see young people in Redditch being trained locally, giving local businesses a highly skilled, high quality pool of talent to choose from.“
The company specialises in engineering training, with three Midlands sites. The investment in the Redditch training facility has seen an area of 355 sq m (3,821 sq ft) devoted to apprenticeship training for the food industry, refurbishing and equipping this space with industry standard equipment.
It's fantastic to see young people being trained locally, giving local businesses a highly skilled, high quality pool of talent to choose fromFood industry engineering training was previously only provided at its Reasheath College site.
Rachel Maclean MP
MGTS chief executive David Bridgens, said: “This investment follows discussions with our food industry partners. The UK needs skilled engineers so we’re developing the necessary skills and supporting industry to recruit a trained workforce. For apprentices, it really is a fantastic time to pursue a career in food process manufacturing, with plenty of exciting opportunities. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”
MGTS train apprentices for some of the country’s leading food manufacturers, such as Müller, Arla, Ferrero, Dairy Crest, Morrisons and Heineken. This expansion will help the whole of the food and drink industry to recruit much needed, highly skilled engineers.
