An exciting and brand new apprenticeship training centre – Oxford Advanced Skills at Culham Science Centre just outside Oxford – is set to help resolve the very real skills shortages that high technology and engineering companies in the city and wider county are experiencing.   The new centre, which will eventually train 125 young people a year, is a joint venture between UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and other major employers.  Leading training provider JTL, has been appointed to manage the centre commencing from September 2016. Oxford Advanced Skills, under the leadership of project sponsor David Martin – an ex-UKAEA apprentice himself, who conceived the project – will raise the quality and standard of local apprenticeships through employer-led training. The new centre will provide employers in Oxfordshire’s high tech sector with ‘work ready’ trainees, apprentice engineers and laboratory technicians by giving apprentices skills and self-discipline through training in the workplace. The centre delivers added value by working closely with local companies, enabling them to directly input into the qualification to ensure that the training provides the apprentices that local businesses need. As a not-for-profit endeavour, all funds will be invested to deliver training and to ensure quality. “With the support of high tech sector companies in the area, Oxford Advanced Skills will help resolve the critical skills shortages we are currently experiencing,” says David Martin, UKAEA’s chief operating officer. “This venture highlights how seriously we take the need for exceptional quality young people making it into the workforce in this area. JTL has huge experience in providing work-based learning across England and Wales. with over 6,000 apprentices currently working towards qualifications with them in the building services engineering sector.” Jon Graham is JTL’s chief executive: “These are really exciting times for apprentices in the Oxford area. We have been working in Oxfordshire for many years but decided recently that in order to be able to provide the quality of training that young people deserved we needed to launch our own training facilities, which we have done recently with our own premises at Culham. Through the work we do there and what UKAEA has seen, it became obvious that there was an opportunity to expand our remit and join with UKAEA to develop this new facility targeting exceptional young people who are needed by high technology companies including UKAEA operating in Oxford and the Thames Valley.”   Source link

Two companies based in Northamptonshire have been fined after a worker died following a fall through a roof. Northampton Crown Court heard how an employee of A-Lift Crane Hire Limited, who had been hired by Premier Roofing Systems Limited to provide them with a crane to lift roofing sheets onto a factory roof at Virani Foods Limited in Wellingborough. Whilst the sheets were being lifted onto the roof, the employee fell through an unprotected skylight and died as a result of his injuries. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident which occurred on 9 August 2013 found that preventative measures to allow operatives to work safely on the roof were not put in place. Premier Roofing Systems Limited, of Unit G, The Grove, Corby Northamptonshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was fined £140,250 and ordered to pay costs of £41,428. A-Lift Crane Hire Limited, of Main Road, Wilby Northamptonshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was fined £83,300 and ordered to pay costs of £21,500. For further information on working at height visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg401.pdf Notes to Editors: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk  More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/   HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases. Source link

The housing industry has expressed concern at the impact it will have on the country’s nascent build to rent sector, which currently has over 40,000 new units in the development pipeline. Based on typical rental yields for a ten to fifteen year investment on build to rent, the British Property Federation (BPF) estimates that the tax will be equate to losing a year’s income, and that investors will undoubtedly be reappraising possible investments as a result of the change. The build to rent sector has attracted over £4bn investment since the start of the year, and is delivering high-quality private rented homes at affordable prices, and at a quicker rate than those built for sale. The Government had indicated that it would not apply the new 3% SDLT surcharge to institutional purchases, but decided to do so in the Budget. In contrast, the Scottish Government has decided to exempt institutional transactions. The UK Government’s change of heart on the surcharge has drawn surprise from one of President Obama’s former housing advisers, Mark Linton, the former chief of staff for the US department of housing and urban development, who said it left many observers “scratching their heads”. Ian Fletcher, director of policy (real estate), at the British Property Federation, said: “Many institutional investors will find it difficult to fathom why something so good – adding to housing supply – is taxed so highly. Given that in many cases the tax will equate to a loss of a year’s worth on income, it is unsurprising that many investors are thinking twice about entering the sector. As well as the direct financial impact, what we cannot also afford is for this to knock the sector’s confidence when there are so many units coming out of the ground and the potential for many more.” Source link

One of the North East’s leading staffing and training solutions providers, MTrec Ltd has been acquired by Trust Tech Inc, a Japanese listed firm, in a £17.1 million deal that will create hundreds of jobs in the North East. The deal was concluded earlier in the week and is Trust Tech Inc’s first European strategic acquisition which will provide a foundation for more acquisitions on the continent. The company is planning to work closely with the existing management team at MTrec to create a fully global training and staffing solution by collaborating their collective experience, expertise and resources. MTrec achieved a £46 million turnover in the financial year ending March 31 this year and is forecasting a £59 million turnover during the current financial year. At present, the company employs 56 staff and a cohort of 2,500 temporary workers and anticipated a rise in its headcount over the next few months in line with the forecast turnover growth, which will create more opportunities for temporary workers throughout the region and new positions within MTrec. The rising headcount at MTrec will come at the same time as the opening of new on-site operations and branches away from the North East. Trust Tech Inc identified MTrec as its first European strategic partner because of its geographical location and exceptional growth rate, meaning that it is in an ideal position to serve the multinational engineering and manufacturing company based in the North East. MTrec Ltd was established 10 years ago and is now one of the leading training and staffing providers in the North East, serving the industrial, engineering and manufacturing sectors. MTrec Care Limited is the company’s wholly owned subsidiary and provides support workers, carers and nurses to the care sector in the region. The business has offices throughout the region and was founded by directors Rob Armstrong and David Musgrave.

Shares in HSS Hire are continuing to plummet as the company’s losses persist. The latest share drop this week saw the tool hire group suffer its greatest slide since its market listing last year to 63% after it said it mired in losses in the first half of the year. Since it floated on the market at the beginning of last year, HSS has endured a difficult time as it was the worst-performing initial public offering in the UK last year and suffered a steep £14.1m pre-tax loss. However, its first half earnings for 2016 showed some signs of improvement, as HSS reported earlier in the week a £9.8 million loss before tax in the 27 weeks to July 2. In the past few years the UK construction industry has boomed, with housebuilders the most successful, while equipment rental groups have found times hard. However, their problems have been primarily self-inflicted, rather than being prompted by challenges to the sector. Since it floated in February last year, HSS has been a turbulent ride for investors and in its first 14 months as a public business, it issue two profit warnings, lost 65% of its market value and parted company with its Chief Executive. However, after a shake-up in strategy, the company’s revenue increased by 13.5% to £166.2 million during the first half of the year, which company chiefs put down partly to convincing customers to use it as a one-stop shop, boosting training revenues in particular. Chief Executive, John Gill, commented: “Customers are increasingly seeing HSS as a single-source provider of tools, equipment and related services and our trading growth reflects this.” However, an analyst at JPMorgan, Alexander Mees, expressed concern that a dependence on lower margin services for revenue growth would put pressure on the company’s profitability. The company’s shares closed more than 8% lower at 78 pence in London.