February 2008
Metsec plc
Metsec champions skills training

Metsec, the UK's largest cold roll-forming company and part of the international voestalpine group, has once again confirmed its commitment to skills training by becoming the latest organisation to adopt the government's Skills Pledge. .

As a champion of skills training, Metsec's revitalised apprenticeship programme is capturing and maintaining the expertise that is vital for UK industry - and helping to redress the skills shortage..

On signing the Skills Pledge Metsec Chief Executive Stephen Tilsley said: "Whilst upskilling the existing workforce to meet the skills needs of the business is important, the value we derive from our apprenticeships is immense.

"Around 20% of our current workforce has come through our apprenticeship scheme and we aim to double this over the next 10 years. We expect 25 skilled employees to retire over the next five years. Metsec has always trained apprentices and so we already have 26 apprentices aged between 16 and 20 who are being trained not simply to replace these retirees but to improve on their skill levels."

Signing the Skills Pledge increases Metsec's profile as an employer that develops its employees throughout their careers, whether they are operators who are learning a new skill or managers taking on new challenges. It also gives the business access to Train to Gain funding.

Commenting further on the Skills Pledge, Tilsley said: "We know that having highly-skilled employees is fundamental to delivering quality products and services on time to our customers. We already use a number of level 2 and level 3 programmes to boost not only the skills of our workforce but also our business performance."

The Pledge signing took place when Skills Minister, David Lammy MP met with Tilsley, Lynn Tomkins, UK Director of Policy at Sector Skills Council, Semta, and other senior representatives to discuss skills needs in the metals, mechanical and electrical sector.

Tilsley chairs the employer-led group which is driving the development of Semta's Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) for the Metals, Mechanical and Electrical (MME) sector, to be launched in April.

Witnessing the signature, Tomkins said: "I am delighted that Metsec is publicly backing the drive for increased skill and qualification levels by signing the Skills Pledge and urge more companies within the science, engineering and manufacturing technologies sector to follow its example."

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