Episode 21

full
Published on:

21st Jun 2023

Highways Voices 21 June - The Operator Skills Hub with Balfour Beatty and Flannery Plant Hire

When Balfour Beatty joined forces with Flannery Plant Hire two years ago to create a ‘best-in-class’ operators skills hub they never would have imagined the success it would have in just a short time.

The Operator Skills Hub- a purpose-built facility in Birmingham offers innovative training programmes to inspire young people and upskill current plant operators in the UK.

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With the construction and infrastructure industry rapidly scaling up to deliver some of the most ambitious schemes in history, the Operator Skills Hub delivered its first Trailblazer Plant Operative Apprentices in 2021, meeting its aim to support 30 young people in its first year.

Key in addressing the construction and infrastructure sectors significant skills shortage, the facility uses state-of-the-art training simulators as well as the latest semi-autonomous vehicles to prepare plant operators and apprentices for the modern-day, digitally-enabled construction site. 

“It is an exiting place. You turn up and feel like you’re in the midst of a really modern environment with digitalisation at the forefront. You then put people on the equipment and they think these cabs and this machine is very sophisticated these days. Then they start to see what salaries they can earn in the industry and you can see them starting to think this is a really attractive place to be,” Andy Ormerod, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty’s Plant and Fleet Services business, tells this week’s Highways Voices.

You'll also hear latest news from our podcast partners and why Kier is praised in this week's Adrian's Accolade.

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About the Podcast

Highways Voices: Talking Roads and Transport Technology innovation
The highways and transport technology industries' podcast from Highways-News.com
The Highways Voices podcast is a must-listen for professionals in the Highways and Transport Technology industries covering construction, maintenance, Intelligent Transport Systems and Public Transportation.

Presented by leading journalists Paul Hutton and Adrian Tatum, you’ll hear industry leaders sharing insights you won’t hear anywhere else, giving you a taste of the latest thinking about the sector's new techniques and technologies, collaborations and innovations. All in the time it takes for an average daily commute (or dog walk!).

We bring you keynote-speaker quality guests into your phone or laptop, ensuring every time you listen you’ll learn something new you can use in your day-to-day job.

Plus, you'll catch up with the top stories from the daily newsletters sent by Highways-News.com and hear the latest from our podcast partners LCRIG, the TTF, ADEPT and ITS UK.

About your host

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Highways Voices

Highways Voices is the weekly podcast from Highways-News.com. In it, Paul Hutton and Adrian Tatum speak to thought leaders, decision makers and inventors in the highways and transport technology industries. New editions are unloaded every Wednesday.