Students from Oldham College are getting a glimpse into the world of manufacturing thanks to work experience placements at our Oldham base.
The students from the college’s carpentry and joinery courses will be spending a week in our board production department at Scottfield Road, where we make our own-brand products such as the extensive Aspire vinyl wrapped kitchen and bedroom door range, our Aspects PVC-edged door collection and our Glide sliding doors.
One of the first to spend a week with us was Level 3 carpentry and joinery apprentice Aidan Wands, from Oldham, who says: “It’s been a really good experience. It shows you the process from start to finish and I’ve learnt a lot along the way. I’ve been fitting cabinet doors and such like on my joinery course, so it’s good to see how everything is made.
“To be fair, I hadn’t thought of it before, but I’ve really enjoyed it, and I wouldn’t mind coming into this kind of career. My course finishes in a couple of months’ time so I’ll be putting in an application!”
Our Board Production Manager Terry Shaw explains: “Aidan spent the week in both our board production units, BP1 and BP2. In BP1, he’s been assisting the staff on the drill and edge banders, so he’s been taking the boards out of the machines and stacking them, ready for packing and banding. In BP2, he’s been on quality control, ensuring the sheet material is being processed correctly by the machines – we’ve tried to show him all the different aspects of what we do.”
The link-up has come about as a result of National Apprenticeship Week, when Dan Mounsey, our Marketing and Business Development Director, and HR Manager Carole Hamnett-Sadler, attended a training expo at Oldham Event Centre.
Dan says: “We have a good working relationship with Oldham College through some of our previous apprentices and we had a very interesting discussion about the huge range of opportunities the college has to offer and how we can work together to develop the workforce for the future.”
Lisa Liddy, Director of Apprenticeships and Work-Based Learning at Oldham College, says: “We’re absolutely delighted to be working alongside Hill’s Panel Products.
“Our Level 3 carpentry and joinery students are getting to see first-hand how the firm manufactures quality products for the UK furniture industry – and everyone wins from placement arrangements like this, which will give our learners invaluable experience in a real-world work environment.
“These are critical in getting our students ready for the world of work. It gives them real insight for their plans for a career in the industry – and it also enables companies like Hill’s Panel Products to meet and work with the next generation of talent coming through in their sector.”
The placements are our latest link to Oldham College, as it’s where Sales Administrator Ellie McCartney completed her Level 3 Business Administration qualification.
Not only did 19-year-old Ellie finish her apprenticeship six months ahead of schedule, one of her college projects, which focused on consolidating our sales office orders, led to significant savings to the business in just a few months.
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