Press releases

Arriva Midlands is working in partnership with Leicestershire Learning and Skills Council, The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) and TUC Learning centres to offer employees an opportunity to learn new skills in specially designed learning centres at their workplace. A learning centre has been developed at Southgates, Wigston and Coalville depots and in the rest room at the city centre's bus station.

As well as offering access to courses offered by Learndirect, the centres will allow employees to address any basic skills issues they have or to work towards qualifications which could help them progress within the company. There are message boards where employees can learn from each other's experiences and can discuss the subjects they are covering. Learner support specialists are also on hand to help employees - whether they choose to learn in one of the centres or at home.

Neil Barker, managing director for Arriva Midlands said:

This is very much a collaborative project designed to improve the skills of employees at all levels through flexible learning. We believe this is the first such project in the transport industry and we hope that employees will support it and get benefit from the centres.

Christine Wood, the TUC's Regional Secretary for the Midlands said:

This project shows the benefit of partnership working between trade unions and employers. Everyone benefits from access to learning, the workforce will gain new skills, the employer gets a better qualified and more knowledgeable workforce.

I believe that in the future, companies with a commitment to learning in the workplace will be more competitive and will retain staff who appreciate the opportunities to be gained through workplace learning.

There is an official launch at the Southgates depot's centre in Leicester City Centre on Thursday 15 May at 11 am.

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