Apprenticeships initiative

The British Industrial Truck Association (BITA) and City of Bristol College have announced a new strategic partnership, with the aim of ensuring the continued availability of qualified engineers for the forklift truck industry, while also boosting awareness of valuable engineering career opportunities for young people.

Working together, BITA and City of Bristol College have created two much-needed services. First of all, a BITA Programme Training Manager has been appointed to create a management link between the academic community and the materials handling sector. Karl Baum, City of Bristol College's business development manager in Transport & Engineering Technology, will be heading up the operational team.

Secondly, a new training facility, the BITA Academy, has been created at the City of Bristol College's Transport Technology for Fork Lift Trucks facility on the Parkway campus, north of Bristol. Apprentices pursuing the College's Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) accredited Diploma in FLT engineering may now graduate with a BITA-branded 'IMI Quality Assured' certificate.

Recruitment will begin in December 2011.

"We need to see significant numbers of apprentices joining the forklift engineering sector to replace retiring employees, if we want to reverse our current ageing profile," comments Tim Waples (pictured), president of BITA. "That's why we committed to create an Industry Apprentice Manager at our AGM in May 2011. Thanks to a great deal of hard work by BITA Board member Bill Goodwin who has led this project, we have negotiated a partnership with City of Bristol College that has met—and exceeded—our goals."