News

Two of our apprentices successfully complete their apprenticeship training.

Two of J P Forrest & Son’s apprentices are pictured here being presented with their NVQ Level 3 certificates by Managing Director Martin Hodgkinson. Matthew Roberts and Liam Crayon, both joined the company shortly after leaving school in 2007, and have now successfully completed their apprenticeship training, Matthew in Fabrication & Welding, and Liam in Mechanical Engineering. Matthew, having received training in all aspects of Fabrication operations, will concentrate on plating, whilst Liam has specialised in horizontal boring.

In October 2010 we took on another apprentice in our Machine Shop in a bid to ensure that the skills of our current machinists are passed on. We also needed to increase manpower in the Machine Shop to cope with increased workloads due to the acquisition in 2009 of a new large capacity horizontal boring machine.

Terry Morrell completed his NVQ Level 2 in Mechanical Engineering at Brinsworth Training in Rotherham in May 2010, but was unable to progress to Level 3 as he was not in relevant employment. We recently attended an awards evening held at Brinsworth Training, at which Terry was presented with his Level 2 NVQ certificates.

Terry has commenced his on-the-job training with one of our experienced manual Horizontal Borer operators and is currently making excellent progress. Although we usually send our apprentices to North Nottinghamshire College in Worksop, for the sake of continuity Terry will stay with Brinsworth Training for his NVQ Level 3.

Our two Apprentices recently received their NVQ Level 2 certificates in Performing Engineering Operations.

Fabrication Shop Apprentice Matthew Roberts and Machine Shop Apprentice Liam Crayon began their Apprenticeships with the company in September 2007 after leaving school at the age of 16. Since then, they have attended North Nottinghamshire College in Worksop on day release from work one day per week. They are now studying towards their NVQ Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship certificates in their chosen area.

Throughout the apprenticeship programme the apprentices’ progress is continually monitored through 8-weekly workplace reviews and assessments carried out by college staff, with contributions from the apprentices and their supervisor/manager. The college also carries out regular workplace Health & Safety reviews.

J P Forrest & Son’s HR Director says: “Many of our current employees have been with the company for several years, in fact the majority are now in their 50s or 60s. The type of skilled operators we require are difficult to find these days, so taking on apprentices is very important in terms of ensuring we have skilled and experienced personnel to step into the older operators’ shoes when they eventually retire”. The company plans to take on another two apprentices in 2010”.

J P Forrest & Son held an Open Day on 23rd September 2009 following the installation and commissioning of its brand new Alesamonti AT150 5-Axis Horizontal Boring Machine.

J P Forrest & Son held an Open Day on 23rd September 2009 following the installation and commissioning of its brand new Alesamonti AT150 5-Axis Horizontal Boring Machine.  The main reason for holding the Open Day, which was well-attended,  was to give existing and prospective customers the opportunity to see the new machine at work and to fully appreciate the type and size of jobs it can handle.   The acquisition of this machine means that the company is now one of only a few in the UK with the capability to manufacture in-house large machined fabrications up to 20 tonnes .

To accommodate the machine the company has had to extend the original machine shop by 150 square metres, and have also installed a new 20 tonne overhead crane, investing around £1m on the project in total. Visitors to the Open Day, who included local press photographers and Lewis Stringer from the East Midlands Development Agency, were also given a tour of the rest of the works to view the company’s comprehensive fabrication and machining facilities. Last year EMDA approved a Business Investment grant of £75,000 to enable the company to go ahead with the project