BiKBBI FIRST CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE TO OPEN

BiKBBI ANNOUNCE FIRST CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

The British Institute of Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom Installation (BiKBBI) has announced its intention to open its first Installation Centre of Excellence later this year to enable it to host the new government approved Apprenticeship for kitchen, bedroom & bathroom installation.

The new government Trailblazer Apprenticeship in Fitted Interiors, a Level 2 Apprenticeship, will be available to 16-19 years olds’ and will be delivered at The Prospects College of Advanced Technology (PROCAT) at its multi-millionpound training facility in Basildon, Essex.

BiKBBI confirmed that the new centre will be the first of a number of proposed sites across the UK, with plans for a national network of centre's offering the Apprenticeship training by 2020.

BiKBBI Chief Executive Damian Walters said "We've been working with a number of local, regional and national employers for over a year now and we're confident that there is a demand to ensure this new style of Apprenticeship is successful."

The Institute has held a number of meetings with national retailers over the last 18 months, drawing the biggest brands together for the first time to collaborate on education. Retailers

involved include B&Q, Wickes, Homebase (Bunnings), John Lewis and Bathstore in addition to Omega who is representing the manufacturers.

PROCAT, located just 15 minutes from London, is the UK's first college of Advanced Technology which already supports a number of Apprenticeship schemes within the construction industry. The college’s board of governors include BiKBBI's Patron and Member of Parliament, Stephen Metcalfe and the campus is located just 3 miles from BiKBBI's head office in South Essex.

Damian Walters added, "The new style Level 2 Apprenticeship in Fitted Interiors has been developed over many years and is a result of a collaboration of industry professionals, businesses and associations, including The KBB National Training Group (NTG).” He continued, “Much of the ground work has been completed and I see our (BiKBBI's) role as being the best placed to drive uptake. Now the platform has been built, it needs the industry to show its commitment to the initiative. Anything less will see the scheme disappear, which would be disastrous considering the skills gap that already exists in our market."

PROCAT currently has 1500 students being trained on a variety of subjects, including carpentry, plumbing and electrical at its state of the art facility in the South East. The new BiKBBI Centre of Excellence is an exciting addition to its portfolio and one that the college is prepared to invest in, according to Head of Faculty, Jeremy Whitely. 

Jeremy commented, "We've been working with the BiKBBI over the past few years and we're incredibly excited to be in partnership with them. Assuming that we get employer buy-in, we're confident that we can jointly produce the right foundation for the next generation of installers to represent the industry. These are pioneering times, but we have great facilities, great people and a desire to make this work. Coupled with support from BiKBBI, we're sure the initiative will deliver great results to a sector that clearly needs a new generation of installers."

BiKBBI invites training providers, prospective employers and anyone else who may be interested in supporting Apprenticeships to register their interest at:

www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ KBBapprenticeships