TTS CONTINUES COMMITMENT TO DEVELOPING TALENT FOR TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS SECTORS

Transport Training Services (TTS), a social enterprise focused on apprenticeships and career development training for the motor trade, transport and logistics sectors in Northern Ireland, is the training delivery arm of the charity the Transport Training Board for Northern Ireland (TTB).

Collectively it is TTB and TTS’s mission to provide a lifecycle development pathway for aspiring and experienced professionals, through the automotive, transport and logistics industries, and to assist employers in these sectors to meet current and future workforce needs.

TTS delivers accredited courses and bespoke training to develop talent for businesses and career-driven individuals, supporting the transport sector to achieve best practice and the highest levels of compliance.

As well as practical driver training for large goods and passenger carrying goods vehicles, TTS delivers compliance training, such as Driver CPC, Transport Manager CPC, and training related to the carriage of dangerous goods (ADR / DGSA). It is also responding to industry demand by offering accredited training on electric/hybrid vehicles (and other alternative fuels such as hydrogen) for qualified technicians, to fill skills gaps that have arisen from new vehicle technology and the drive to transition to zero emission vehicles.

In the last 12 months, TTS has made significant investment, most notably in new vehicles for driver training and in personnel recruitment. The organisation has bolstered its Senior Management Team, its 10-strong board of Trustees, and has heavily recruited in all areas of the business to enhance service delivery and to introduce additional specialist skills.

Women In Wheels Ni

In 2020, the company launched ‘Women in Wheels NI’, an initiative aimed at encouraging more females into the transport and logistics workforces. To coincide with 2022 International Women’s Day, TTS organised and hosted an event for women to take part in interactive activities, including getting behind the wheel of a truck or bus.

The event also had female speakers from a broad cross-section of the motor and transport sectors, and a range of employers exhibited on the day. The event saw 120+ people attending and 72 women getting the chance to drive. The initiative is supported by a dedicated Facebook Group (https://www. facebook.com/groups/womeninwheelsni) which now has almost 400 members.

This is good news for transport sector employers that are desperately trying to fill vacancies, as TTS is driving interest from the half of the population that has previously been relatively untapped! The company is planning to run a second Women in Wheels NI event in 2023.

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS APPRENTICESHIPS

TTS is consistently Northern Ireland’s largest provider of apprenticeships in these sectors with 30% market share. The company recently announced that it has successfully placed more than 100 young people into employed apprenticeships since September 2022, achieving it’s ‘TTS100’ goal. This was the largest number in a single intake in the organisation’s history and took the total apprentice numbers across all year groups close to 250, which is an all-time high. This is even more impressive against the backdrop of covid-19 when apprentice