Shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, visited EEF’s apprentice training centre in Aston yesterday.
Accompanied by Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, and local MP, Khalid Mahmood, he was given a tour of the state-of-the-art centre which was opened in April this year.
Mr Umunna met training staff and young apprentices, hearing first-hand about the skills they are learning and their future ambitions.
He also heard from EEF’s technical training director, Peter Winebloom, about the skills shortage facing the manufacturing and engineering sector and how training centres like Aston are vital for giving young people these sought-after and valuable skills. He said that, by becoming an apprentice, young people are making themselves highly employable and are setting themselves up for a rewarding, long-term career.
Shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna MP, said: “It was fantastic to visit EEF’s new Technology Training Centre in Birmingham and meet the young people benefitting from the opportunities which it offers. At a time when we need to grow the number of high-skilled, better paid jobs, we need to see even more facilities like this across the country, bringing together technology and expertise to give the next generation the skills they need to succeed and powering the industries of the future.”
