Barnsley College and Ardagh Group launch new Engineering and Manufacturing Academy

@barnsleycollege and @ArdaghGroup launch new Academy

 The new Ardagh Group Academy was officially launched, at a special event hosted at Barnsley College’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Centre.

The event opened with a welcome from Barnsley College’s Deputy Principal, Development, Ben Owen, who introduced the exciting new partnership, explaining that the Academy will provide students with the opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge required for a successful career within engineering and manufacturing.

The Academy curriculum is tailored to focus on the exact skills, training and knowledge that Ardagh Group is looking for, developing a highly skilled and motivated local workforce.

Steve Wood, Plant and Added Value Director at Ardagh Group, said: “Ardagh’s partnership with Barnsley College and the creation of the new Academy is a fantastic opportunity for us to get involved with the education of some of the talented young people from the local area.

“The course content will be engineering-based with a bias towards the needs of a glass container factory. We aim to support the course with input from our site specialists and hopefully even run some site-based projects for the students to get a feel for the real world challenges in glass manufacturing.

“The collaboration is intended to create a talent pool which will not only benefit Ardagh Group, by feeding directly into our apprenticeship scheme, but also the broader local economy. It’s an exciting prospect.”

The event featured an official ribbon cutting ceremony and a tour of the Academy.