Going well one year on

The centre addresses widespread concerns that too many courses were being delivered by individuals or organisations neither accredited nor monitored for quality.

“By any measure, F-TEC has proved a huge success and continues to surpass expectations,” says Peter Harvey, chief executive of the FLTA. “Apprentices already on FLTA courses have transferred seamlessly from colleges to F-TEC and all have given really positive feedback on the courses and the way they are taught – resulting in 100% satisfaction ratings in feedback questionnaires.

“Similarly, F-TEC has successfully incorporated our programme of nineteen different short courses for engineers, covering everything from electronics to LPG fuel systems, hydraulics to Thorough Examination, delivering them using state-of-the-art facilities in Swindon. Importantly, these courses are reviewed typically twice a year to ensure they meet the precise and changing needs of our industry.”

Since opening its doors, F-TEC has increased the number of apprentices joining its courses by introducing an additional intake that is not restricted to the academic year. The success rate among apprentices is a very impressive 95%.  

“Our members, who represent everyone from small independent dealerships to multinational manufacturers of fork lifts such as Linde and Crown, have been overwhelming in their praise – with a growing number asking F-TEC to deliver bespoke training programmes to meet their specific requirements,” adds Mr Harvey.

“F-TEC has certainly hit the ground running and is playing a key role in bringing through the quality and quantity of engineers we will need to overcome the skills gap created by an aging and retiring work-force.”