In an industry that’s constantly striving to show its customers a commitment
to best practice, it’s good to find evidence of a company that’s so dedicated
to training.
When Sandtoft established its Training & Assessment Centre (S.T.A.C.) and
at its South Yorkshire head office in 1997, it was one of the first major manufacturers
of slating and tiling products to establish a dedicated centre. Nearly a decade
on, it’s still leading the way, being the only roof tile manufacturer training
centre offering NVQ assessment and qualifications.
The Training Centre has now developed a reputation in the industry as a centre
of excellence, leading the way in the field of on-site training for slaters and
tilers in the industry. This has recently been reflected in a recent external
verification visit which awarded the centre the highest grade (A), reflecting
the extraordinarily high quality of the assessment process and internal systems.
Originally set up in 1997 to provide the company’s own staff, roofing operatives
and builders merchants with the opportunity to train with roofing products and
to raise awareness of good industry practices, Sandtoft’s Training Centre has
expanded and developed apace.
Moving into new premises on the Sandtoft site in February 2000, the centre continued
to develop and on 22 April 2002, it was accredited by the CITB/City & Guilds.
This accreditation enabled it to offer an On Site Assessment and Training (OSAT)
scheme for Roof Slating and Tiling NVQ levels 2 and 3, as well as the wide selection
of training courses it was already offering.
Now the company is helping train and qualify roofers from across the country
on the only OSAT scheme offered by a roof tile manufacturer in the country.
Sandtoft’s training facility was originally set up and until recently was supervised
by Kevin Taylor, who has extensive experience of the roofing industry having been
in the business for 23 years. Kevin has recently been appointed at the NFRC as
Technical Training Officer, although he will retain his role as internal verifier
for Sandtoft. The day-to-day running of the Training & Assessment Centre is
carried out by Simon Dixon, trainer and assessor. Like Kevin, Simon has also been
working in the roofing industry for 23 years. As well as having completed 14
years of on-site experience, Simon has also taught at Leeds College of Building
as well as the CITB Training Centres in Birmingham and Kent, before joining the
Sandtoft Training Centre three years ago.
As Simon explained “I believe that there are a lot of people in our industry
who want to train and take NVQ’s but nationally there just aren’t enough resources
or enough choices for them. Many are turned off by the thought of training or
gaining a qualification: they associate it with paperwork and academic study,
but it doesn’t have to be like that. The Training Centre offers unrivalled support
for candidates right through the training process. The assessment is done on
site, but there’s even a drop-in facility once a week so candidates can come in
at short notice. For example if the weather is bad they can give us a call and
we can offer them anything from a few minutes support on their NVQ portfolio to
several hours of practical training.”
The feedback from roofing contractors has been very positive, which is why the
facility has continued to grow. Having started with local companies, it has so
far registered over 200 candidates for the NVQ and numbers are growing all the
time. The NVQ side is going from strength to strength with many candidates now
registering via word of mouth recommendations, particularly where sub-contractors
are being pressed by main contractors to get the qualifications. Candidates can
come into the Training Centre to work on complex and curved rigs to cover features
like eyebrow dormers, laced and swept valleys and conical roofs.
Simon stated: “We still want more people actually training at the Centre itself.
There are reasons why people are reluctant to leave site and come and train, and
as a former contractor I understand the pressures of running a business.
“However, we feel that we can offer the sort of flexible on-demand training that
could appeal to roofing contractors. We have a good track record of putting specific
courses on for small groups and would welcome any enquiries from people regarding
training at the Centre.”
Achieving an NVQ has never been more flexible. The new “Magenta” version of
the NVQ was launched on 1 September 2005, replacing the existing “Grey” scheme
which will now become obsolete. This means that candidates registered after 1st September must be on Magenta, but those registered before that date have the
option of completing on the old scheme or transferring to the new one. This new
scheme has been made considerably more flexible in response to varying skills
needs around the country, and allows candidates and employers to choose from three
different training routes depending on their requirements. In addition, the CITB
have just successfully piloted a fast-track NVQ level 2 for experienced roofers.
The Training Centre will shortly be offering this short “experienced worker” route
of assessment alongside the OSAT scheme. This method of assessment comprises
a practical 8 hour test within the centre itself, rather than on-site visits.
Sandtoft believe that this will appeal to many contractors and it will mean using
the excellent facilities in the centre itself more fully.
Although the main work of the Training Centre is focussed around NVQs, it is
increasingly providing more practical and theoretical training for merchants,
such as dry roofing and estimating. While training of this kind has been provided
since its inception in 1997, Sandtoft expects to see it increase during the course
of 2006, and is putting the necessary resources and infrastructure in place in
anticipation of this increase.
These are exciting times for Sandtoft: last year saw the company celebrate its
100th anniversary, and this year the company has just announced the completion of
the UK’s largest new clay tile plant. As Sales and Marketing Director, Nick Oldridge,
states, it’s a time for looking forward not back: “The Sandtoft philosophy has
always been to push forward whether it’s innovation in products or the development
of people, and training has been a core principal of this. The Sandtoft Training
Centre is just one of the ways we are trying to promote good practice, innovation
and technical excellence throughout the industry.”
