Bombardier’s £1bn Crossrail contract is ‘very healthy talent pool addition’ say recruiters
6 February 2014
Today’s announcement that Transport for London (TfL) intends to award the £1bn contract to build 65 new trains for Crossrail will a create a “very healthy addition” to the UK’s train building talent pool, according to Henry Noteman, associate director of specialist engineering recruiter Jonathan Lee recruitment.
Thu, 6 Feb 2014 | By Colin Cottell
Today’s announcement that Transport for London (TfL) intends to award the £1bn contract to build 65 new trains for Crossrail will a create a “very healthy addition” to the UK’s train building talent pool, according to Henry Noteman, associate director of specialist engineering recruiter Jonathan Lee recruitment.
The contract is due to be formally confirmed after a 10-day standstill period.
According to TfL, the contract “will support 760 UK manufacturing jobs plus 80 apprenticeships”.
In addition, the construction of the maintenance depot at Old Oak Common in North London will create 244 jobs, plus 16 apprenticeships. When fully operational the depot will support a further 80 jobs.
Noteman tells Recruiter: “That is a very healthy talent pool addition that will secure at least one more generation of train building in the UK. While rail contracts are big projects, they do not come about often, raising continuity issues for any supplier, and this news is a welcome boost.”
Paul Prentice, assistant news editor of niche rail industry publication Rail Magazine, predicts that peak production of the new trains in Derby will begin in 2014 and last for a couple of years. Prentice tells Recruiter that Bombardier should have little trouble finding the talent it needs. “The skills still exist. Bombardier did lay off some people but the Derby area is a bit of a rail hub, so I would say there is a massive pool of talent available.”
Prentice agrees that apprenticeships will play a big role in securing the talent pipeline for Bombardier. “Every single MP will be pushing for apprentices for young local people,” he says.
To maximise opportunities for local recruitment, TfL says Bombardier will advertise all new jobs using the Crossrail Jobs Brokerage service, which is linked to Jobcentre Plus.
Ged Mason, chief executive officer at engineering and technical recruiter Morson Group, tells Recruiter: “I guess it [recruitment] will be phased. This as much about securing the existing workforce and the new recruits will be phased in.”
Mason adds that Morson intends to approach Bombardier “to see if we can support them” particularly with the 80 apprentices, through Vital Services Group, part of Morson Group that provides apprenticeship programmes predominantly within the rail industry.
By press deadline, Bombardier had not responded to Recruiter’s enquiries
The contract is due to be formally confirmed after a 10-day standstill period.
According to TfL, the contract “will support 760 UK manufacturing jobs plus 80 apprenticeships”.
In addition, the construction of the maintenance depot at Old Oak Common in North London will create 244 jobs, plus 16 apprenticeships. When fully operational the depot will support a further 80 jobs.
Noteman tells Recruiter: “That is a very healthy talent pool addition that will secure at least one more generation of train building in the UK. While rail contracts are big projects, they do not come about often, raising continuity issues for any supplier, and this news is a welcome boost.”
Paul Prentice, assistant news editor of niche rail industry publication Rail Magazine, predicts that peak production of the new trains in Derby will begin in 2014 and last for a couple of years. Prentice tells Recruiter that Bombardier should have little trouble finding the talent it needs. “The skills still exist. Bombardier did lay off some people but the Derby area is a bit of a rail hub, so I would say there is a massive pool of talent available.”
Prentice agrees that apprenticeships will play a big role in securing the talent pipeline for Bombardier. “Every single MP will be pushing for apprentices for young local people,” he says.
To maximise opportunities for local recruitment, TfL says Bombardier will advertise all new jobs using the Crossrail Jobs Brokerage service, which is linked to Jobcentre Plus.
Ged Mason, chief executive officer at engineering and technical recruiter Morson Group, tells Recruiter: “I guess it [recruitment] will be phased. This as much about securing the existing workforce and the new recruits will be phased in.”
Mason adds that Morson intends to approach Bombardier “to see if we can support them” particularly with the 80 apprentices, through Vital Services Group, part of Morson Group that provides apprenticeship programmes predominantly within the rail industry.
By press deadline, Bombardier had not responded to Recruiter’s enquiries
