Bombardier Transportation to create 150 new jobs and 40 new apprenticeships
Chancellor welcomes Bombardier Transportation's plans to create 150 new high skilled jobs and 40 new apprenticeships.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne today visited Derby-based train builder Bombardier Transportation to welcome the company’s plans to create 150 new high skilled jobs and 40 new apprenticeships.
The Chancellor was joined by the Prime Minister at Bombardier’s UK headquarters, where they set out their six-point long term economic plan for the Midlands in two major speeches.
There, the pair announced that a key cornerstone of that plan is to make the Midlands an ‘engine for growth’ by backing the area’s core strengths such as manufacturing and engineering and creating 300,000 extra jobs for the region over the next five years.
Bombardier Transportation’s new recruitment drive will see it create 150 new high skilled roles in the UK to work on local and international projects. Half of the new roles will be engineering jobs while the other half will be in disciplines like project management and procurement and 80% of these are expected to be based in Derby. The company has also committed to recruiting 40 new apprentices and graduates every year.
Bombardier employs 3,500 people across eight sites in the UK with 1,600 of these based in Derby, which has produced a significant proportion of the UK’s latest technology rolling stock for mainline train operations and London Underground.
Bombardier’s expansion has been boosted following the company winning the project to build the new trains and depot for Crossrail in 2014, as well as securing orders to extend the London Overground trains from 4 to 5-car units and new trains for the Govia Thameslink franchise.
The Chancellor also had the opportunity to view Bombardier’s new latest technology ‘Iron Bird’ Integration Test facility first-hand. Inspired by the aviation industry, this will be used for advance reliability testing for the Crossrail fleet. He was also able to see the foundations being laid for a brand new facility at Bombardier’s site, which will be used for final testing of the Crossrail trains.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said:
We want to make the Midlands an engine for growth by backing the core strengths of the local economy like engineering and manufacturing. That is what the long term economic Plan we have set out for the Midlands today is all about. Bombardier’s expansion is great news for the people of Derby and confirms their track record in growing and creating high skilled jobs in Britain.
Noel Travers, Managing Director Bombardier Transportation UK said:
Bombardier has worked extremely hard to develop good relationships with politicians from the Government and all UK political parties and we were delighted to host the Chancellor’s visit. The event provided an opportunity for the Chancellor to witness first-hand progress with the high-profile Crossrail project and other ongoing developments in our business, including our current recruitment drive.