Construction work has started on the £17 million BMW Group Academy UK.
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The auto industry training and development centre, due to open in 2006, will provide all technical and non-technical training for the BMW, Mini and motorcycle dealer networks and the facilities will also be open to group employees from throughout the UK.
BMW (UK) has signed a long term service agreement with Rentokil group company Initial Style Conferences Limited to provide dedicated training facilities.
BMW MD Jim O’Donnell said: “Recruitment and retention of skilled people are critical issues facing the automotive sector. In order to meet the growth in sales volumes in the next three years, we need to increase the number of people working in our dealerships from 9,000 to more than 11,000.
He added that BMW expected the number of days of training to increase by nearly 30% by 2010.
The academy will have a workshop with 32 vehicle bays, 25 classrooms and a car and motorcycle showroom to simulate a working dealer environment. The centre will also feature a dedicated apprentice training area with its own accommodation facilities and clubhouse for the current intake of 60-70 apprentices a year.
