Apprentices at low-carbon battery manufacturing pioneer Britishvolt are to carry out their apprenticeship training at the Coventry-based Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre (AMTC).

MTC Training — part of the Ansty-based Manufacturing Technology Centre — has signed an agreement with Britishvolt to deliver syllabus development and training as part of its nationwide apprenticeship programme, a scheme which Northumberland College is also signed up to.

Apprentices from Britishvolt’s giant gigaplant in Blyth, Northumberland and its headquarters in Coventry, will go through MTC Training’s four-year engineering technician apprenticeship course. They will spend their first year at the AMTC before dividing their time between the centre and Britishvolt facilities. The first cohort of apprentices will begin their training at the AMTC in September, with the potential for hundreds of apprentices to follow in their wake.

David Grailey, MTC Training managing director, said: “MTC Training has developed a reputation for producing work-ready apprentices of the highest calibre. They have access to the very latest in engineering technologies, but importantly, they are schooled in the basics of business, and gain an understanding of the responsibilities of being an employee, an appreciation of how business works, and an understanding of the importance of customers. Our apprentices are winning awards and the word is spreading.”

High-tech jobs of the future
He added: “MTC Training’s apprentices are exactly what industry needs to fill the high-tech jobs of the future as industry moves toward a ‘net zero’ environment. Our scheme shapes our learners to be fully rounded apprentices capable of filling the most demanding of positions."

Britishvolt expects to employ more than 3,000 people at its Northumberland gigafactory and has recently announced a £200 million battery manufacture scale-up facility at Hams Hall in Warwickshire to boost its manufacturing capacity as it meets demand from electric car makers.

Katie Sloggett, Britishvolt’s head of learning and development, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to work within our local communities and help generate the skills required for Britain to play its part in the next industrial revolution.

“These partnerships will initially create opportunities for apprentices at Levels 2 to 4, in time forming part of a wider electrification skills pathway towards higher-skills, up to and including Level 8 (PhD). The AMTC will link to Britishvolt FutureGen Foundation, connecting into hard-to-reach communities and driving up the aspirations and skills of the many.

“I am very excited for the boost for the West Midlands. These agreements, alongside the broader technical training programme, will ensure that we have the people and skills that we need for the 3,000 direct highly skilled jobs (and another 5,000-plus indirect jobs in the wider supply chain), building the batteries that will power our electric vehicles for a cleaner, greener future.”