Association of Colleges

Tony Shepherd likes young people with attitude. Not the Vicky Pollard “Yeah, but, no, but” sort, but the can-do attitude that the customers of Britain’s most successful truck firm rely upon.

That’s why Tony, the After Sales Services Manager for DAF Trucks, is so full of praise for the training his apprentices receive from the City Of Bristol College.

Instead of apprentices from DAF’s 136 dealerships in the UK all going to local colleges to learn their trade, DAF decided to create a centre of excellence at City Of Bristol College and send everyone through its doors for 28 weeks of their three-year training courses.

If they weren’t already working at DAF dealerships, the apprentices would be in for a culture shock. Far from just sitting in a classroom and being lectured to, they find themselves in what looks and feels like the service area of a DAF Trucks’ dealership.

They wear DAF uniforms and work on DAF trucks with the company’s latest equipment and methods – something that Tony says gives them the best possible start in their careers.

“We decided to set up our own dedicated apprentice learning centre about 11 years ago and scoured the country for a base,” he said.

“Bristol was an ideal location and the college there delivered a good quality of education as well being able to meet our demands and expectations.

“One of the reasons for having our own apprentice programme is that skilled technicians are a scarce commodity and we needed to grow our own – and keep them.

“So we made it look and feel like a DAF dealership with all the latest equipment. It’s no good training someone on a 20-year-old truck when he’s working in a franchised dealership on ultramodern products.

“But equipping a college with modern vehicles is damned expensive. Today’s vehicles are highly sophisticated electronic machines.

“For colleges on their own, that’s a big investment. I’ve just put our latest engines in there, and that’s a £30,000 investment. Having a link with a manufacturer gives colleges a lot of extras.

“We help them with our specialist equipment and they can concentrate on investing in the facilities and computer equipment and delivering the high standard of education we expect.

“We pride ourselves on providing the best back-up in the business – but you can only do that if you have the right skills levels in the dealer network. It’s vitally important to have the right people.

“We’ll do whatever is necessary to get the job sorted. The old adage that the salesman sells the first truck and after-sales sell the rest is very true today.

“It’s all about attitude. We need people to understand our culture and feel proud to be part of our family. It’s the DAF difference and it’s that difference which keeps our customers happy.

“The college are responsive to our requests. They understand what we are about. The equipment is good, the facilities are good, and they provide excellent learning support where it’s needed. We put these guys through a fairly tough course. And you can’t get this quality of learning anywhere else.

”Six years ago we had about 40 apprentices a year but now it’s a hundred. It’s a great profession to come into.

“The skills learnt with DAF at City of Bristol College will provide employment opportunities whichever part of the world you choose to live in in the future.”

For more information see: http://www.fecolleges.co.uk

 

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