The TDS Academy has teamed up with fellow Telford business Fabweld Steel Products to offer one of its employees, Harry Hilton, a place on the scheme which will see him learn the skills and techniques of Computer Aided Design (CAD) through a combination of qualifications and practical, work-based on the job learning.

Declan McDonnell, Director at The TDS Academy, said: “We are delighted to have Fabweld enrol onto the programme and are very much looking forward to working together to bring vital new skills to the region’s workforce. The engineering sector has suffered from a severe lack of experienced workers over the past few years due to the reduction in investment, which is the fundamental reason why we decided to launch this scheme.

“Each apprentice will obtain top class vocational training from experts within the industry and will work on real design projects with real challenges. This will not only help develop their skills and give them the opportunity to develop a successful career, but will also provide employers with a much needed skilled and accomplished workforce.”

The apprenticeship programme will be run from The TDS Academy’s base at the Enterprise Hub in Telford and each trainee who successfully completes the scheme will obtain an ECITB Level Three Diploma in Engineering Construction Design and Drafting, along with a BTEC Level Three Diploma in Operations and Maintenance Engineering – the equivalent of two A Levels.

Richard Hilton, Managing Director of Fabweld, said: “We continuously strive to develop and enhance the skills of all our employees to ensure our customers receive the highest levels of service, quality products and advice from our team. The multi-skilled nature of our staff allows us to offer flexibility within production to meet short lead times and the varying demands of our customers.

“It can, however, be difficult to find dedicated and relevant training for our apprentices within the steel fabrication sector locally, so we were delighted to make contact with the team at the TDS Academy. The apprentice signed up to the course, Harry Hilton, will be using the same CAD software we use for our innovation and R&D projects as part of the course, which will ensure he can hit the ground running when he completes the programme.”