Multi-million-pound boost to deliver advanced manufacturing skills

A Coventry-based manufacturing centre specialising in training and R&D has secured a multi-million-pound sponsorship deal to continue to deliver advanced skills in the sector.

Lloyds Bank will continue to provide the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre (AMTC) £1 million per year before 2030 as it extends its support for the centre and wider UK manufacturing sector. This brings Lloyds Bank 's total sponsorship of the AMTC to £15 million.

The AMTC has already trained more than 2,500 engineers, graduates and apprentices during the initial eight years of Lloyds Bank 's support, a figure set to rise to more than 5,000 by 2030.

The extended partnership will also see the delivery of a new 'step on, step off ' pathway, where manufacturers can send colleagues for training at different points in their career, facilitated by higher education providers including BPP university. The partnership also includes a new sustainability proposition to support manufacturers to understand where their opportunities to either start or accelerate their journey to Net Zero.

Clive Hickman OBE, CEO at the MTC, said: “We 've bridged the gap between industry and academia at the MTC for more than a decade, and the support from Lloyds Bank has been integral to the success we 've had. The extension of this partnership and the increase in funding will mean we can deliver more apprenticeships and training that will enable the UK to maintain its position as a global manufacturing leader. ”

The sponsorship was announced at a Midlands Growth Meeting this week in Birmingham hosted by Elyn Corfield, CEO for Business and Commercial Banking at Lloyds Banking Group.

Elyn Corfield (pictured) CEO, Business and Commercial Banking at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “The MTC is right in the heartland of the UK 's manufacturing industry and its training programmes will be vital if the sector is to overcome challenges like decarbonisation and the productivity puzzle, all while becoming more globally competitive. ”

Tyler Gillespie, a current MTC apprentice working for Technoset, said: “Automation and low carbon technologies are rapidly evolving manufacturing in the UK, but many of these changes aren 't plug-and-play and require entire processes to be re-evaluated. The teaching from the AMTC will help me implement these critical new ways of working in our business. ”

As part of its commitment to supporting the manufacturing sector, Lloyds Bank in partnership with the MTC will run a CPD education programme for its colleagues to develop their manufacturing expertise even further.

Find more information here.