(L-R) Alan Letford (head of Customer Care), Lewis Hill, Allan Pinfold (Technical Service Manager – Corrugated)
Bobst has committed to a further four-year programme of apprentice training by its UK and Ireland Regional Services Centre helping to supply the industry with young and capable technicians.
Alan Letford, head of Customer Care at Bobst UK & Ireland, said, ‘There is very little young blood coming into the industry on the technical engineering side, which is a concern because packaging manufacturers are increasing relying on us to provide a wide range of engineering and technical services. We have made a concerted effort over the past few years to recruit and up-skill additional experienced engineers, but renewal of our apprenticeship programme for another four years is vital to ensure that there is a supply of young technicians to join them.’
The announcement comes as 22 year-old Lewis Hill completes his apprenticeship, joining the 25 strong on-call team in the UK and Ireland, while a new apprentice – 19 year-old Theo Kapratsis – joins the company. A further apprentice will be recruited during 2016, extending the programme to 2020.
Mr Hill completed his EEF Advanced Level Apprenticeship in Engineering Manufacture in September and is now a fully qualified mechanical engineer. As part of his training he also completed a 10 week ‘L1’ training course at the company’s worldwide headquarters near Lausanne, Switzerland, which qualifies him for advanced specialist training in specific machines and new technologies.
Allan Pinfold, technical service manager (Corrugated), said, ‘Lewis will be specialising in the Bobst range of equipment for corrugated packaging production, in particular die-cutters and flexo presses, as well as some of our folder-gluers. He has been a great apprentice – he’s very flexible and highly dedicated to the job. Even though his apprenticeship is over, Lewis will have an ongoing development plan just like every other Bobst technician and that will see him continue to grow his skills. Our UK Apprenticeship Programme has successfully trained many new engineers since we started it in 1999 and Lewis is a perfect example of why we should continue developing young people.’
New apprentice Mr Kapratsis is currently undergoing full-time foundation engineering training at Midlands Group Training Services. In summer 2016 he will start on-the-job training with a senior Bobst technician while also attending day-release at college.
