Wilmot Dixon - Scarborough
With the help of the Union Learning Fund and unionlearn construction union UCATT, Housing company Wilmott Dixon has opened a new training centre in Scarborough that’s open to members of the local community as well as its own workforce.
What was once a dilapidated storage area was transformed last year into a fully equipped, flexible and tailored learning centre in the space of six weeks.
It is now fully equipped with classroom furniture, a whiteboard, projector and laptop computers, and its flexible arrangement means that it can also be used to deliver training in practical construction skills, including tiling and plastering, painting and decorating and plumbing.
“It has been really, really advantageous to work with UCATT,” says Wilmot Dixon Training Manager Sharon Ayles. “The training centre would not have been possible without their input.”
The centre now offers training in trade skills such as carpentry, plumbing, joinery and decorating to Wilmot Dixon’s local maintenance team, which means workers don’t
have to travel to other sites across the country for training sessions.
It’s also open to members of the local community looking to find out more about the construction sector – particularly those who are unemployed or have been affected
by redundancies and business closures.
“We identified a need for a local training facility in a comfortable and familiar environment for our trade’s people and the wider community,” says Wilmot Dixon’s General Manager at Scarborough Derek Dyer. “We also want to improve our employee’s quality of life and work–life balance – and reducing travelling time is one way of doing that.”
Group Chief Executive Rick Wilmot formally opened the centre in the autumn, alongside Acting UCATT Regional Secretary Steve Murphy, Scarborough Mayor Hazel Lynskey, and Yorkshire Coast Homes (YCH) Chief Executive Steve Oldridge (the company provides repairs and maintenance to YCH housing stock in Scarborough and Whitby).
“Wilmot Dixon has been in existence for 158 years and has been through recessions and economic downturns before,” says Head of Customer Service and Training Huw Evans. “To get through the bad times we believe that you need to invest in the people who work for you.”
Stuart Witty, production manager with the company, has experienced learning from both sides at the centre. He helps deliver monthly ‘toolbox talks’ for trades people that cover issues such as new policies and procedures and health and safety updates and providing open forums to feedback on workplace issues. As a learner, Stuart has been taking part in Excel training. “I thought it very good and the facilities are great,” he says.
Stuart is happy that his union has a higher profile now that it is involved with offering more people in the local community free training. “That would be the next step,” he says.
Eighteen year old Tom Holdenby took a one- day health and safety course at the centre after approaching Wilmott Dixon off his own bat towards the end of a two-year level 3 Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment at York College.
“The room was full of joiners, electricians, plasterers, all the different trades people – I was the only work experience person there, but they treated me as one of their own, I felt very comfortable,” he says.
Since taking the safety course, Tom has been spending two days a week with one of the company’s qualified electricians, learning by watching how he approaches his different jobs and getting involved when he can. “I like hands on learning like that,” he says.
Tom hopes that the time he’s put in will pay off later this year. “I’m looking to start an apprenticeship when the college starts in the autumn, and I hope my work experience will stand me in good stead with Wilmott Dixon,” he says.
UCATT’s Steve Murphy says the centre will allow a wide range of people to improve their skills and gain qualifications.
“This initiative shows how a progressive union can work with companies for the benefit of its members and the local community,” he says.
