On the 25th of April Flannery Plant Hire will be holding a Recruitment Fair at the ‘EKFB’ construction compound near Brackley in Northamptonshire, to promote the 1,000 vacant on-the-job training opportunities that have been made available on the HS2 project.

With funding from one of HS2’s major subcontractors, these training jobs will provide young people with skills and experience that can further enhance their careers in civil engineering, which could open the door to further experiences and positions in the future.

The 1,000 training places will be located in Iver, Brackley and Sutton Coldfield at Operators Skills Hubs, those that complete any of the vast ranges of training programmes, will join over 600 people who have already passed through the training hubs that are now working on the project.

The positions are available to people over the age of 19, focusing on jobseekers who are most in need of work, with the aim of developing their skills to ensure they can secure employment as quickly as possible.

The positions are also open to those that live close to any of the HS2 worksites, or looking for a career change, offering the chance to build up their skills in just two weeks so they are able to work on the High Speed project.

With HS2 now at the height of construction, the programmes will include a two-week ‘Skills Bootcamp’ in plant operations, which is free to local residents thanks to funding from the Department of Education.

The two-week programme will enable learning and training to start work as a plant operator, the duties vary depending on the programme, with the most popular being the driving and organising of the dumper trucks as they move earth to and from construction sites.

One of the 600 people to pass through the scheme already local Northamptonshire resident Leoni Moore. Last year she signed up to become a Plant Operator, since then she has been training on driving articulated dumper trucks.

This has led her to become the first qualified female in the UK to drive a 25 tonne ‘grader’ truck, which is designed to level surfaces by use of a long blade under the vehicle.

It was kind of scary to begin with, because everything seems huge, but it was quite easy to pick up. I got on the machine and I absolutely loved it and just thought, I wish I’d done this sooner.”

Leoni

Leoni trained in the 16-seat classroom at the Brackley Training Hub, at HS2 Brackley Road compound in Westbury.

The Hub also has facilities that include indoor driving simulators and a large forecourt to train on the real thing once people are deemed competent to be let loose on the real thing.

From here, they can be trained further and undertake assessments to enhance and perfect their skills before they are passed as a truck driver, which will enable them to work on site.

The hubs deliver new skilled workers to enable them to work on the northern and central sections of the HS2 route, and are run in partnership with HS2s’ two joint ventures consisting of Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall form the EKVB JV, while Balfour Beatty and VINCI make up the BBV JV.

Once complete, HS2 will improve connections between London, Birmingham and the North while freeing up space for more local trains on the most congested southern end of the existing West Coast Main Line into London Euston. But we are also bringing benefits now, through initiatives like the Operator Skills Hubs, which allow local residents, and those who are out of work, to access free training and develop skills for life, which they can quickly put to use in well-paid jobs in the immediate area.”

Jhen-Nel Swanston, HS2’s Ltd Legacy Manager.

It has been a fantastic opportunity to work with BBV, EKFB and their respective supply chains to ensure a lasting skills legacy along the delivery route giving employers the skills they need today whether via new entrants or those already in industry upskilling. To be able to continue to build upon that legacy with the next wave of the Governments Skills Bootcamp programme is an exciting offer and shows what can be achieved when we all come together and collaborate for success both project and route wide.”

Aaron Davis, Flannery’s Safety and Skills Director,

As well as the 1,000 new training opportunities, the Skills Hubs also offer 15-month Trailblazer apprenticeships.

These include training to operate and hone their skills on four different types of machinery, which will make the apprentices highly sought after once they have completed their apprenticeship because of the variety of knowledge that they have learnt, plus they will transfer those skills to other industries once HS2 is complete.

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