Learning Centres have huge benefits to both workers and employers, something that unions are keen to support. Recently Unite the union and Wavin UK officially opened a new Doncaster Learning Centre in the company’s Edlington site.

The centre was visited by Don Valley MP and former Employment Minister Caroline Flint and is a joint collaboration between Wavin and Unite. It has been set up as the learning resource for the company’s employees and to encourage personal development across the business.

The Learning Centre is open to all Wavin employees, and provides them with opportunities to develop new skills and acquire qualifications. Courses on offer will not only be directly related to their roles, but can also support employees to develop their own personal interests and ambitions.

The Don Valley MP was given a tour of the factory by Adrian Clifford, Engineering Manager, Jocelyn Walker, HR Partner, Andy Cullen, Unite Learning Organiser, and Richard Horsfield, Unite Learning Representative.

Caroline saw the production process from start to finish and was impressed by what she saw.

Caroline said:

Today, I saw a firm that invests in its workforce, has a great partnership with Unite the Union to promote lifelong learning and upskilling of its employees, and a firm that is making a huge contribution to the UK’s construction supplies.”

I was delighted to see the Learning Centre, in the heart of the site.  Over 50 staff have completed learning modules in the last twelve months.  The approach is all about keeping skills up to date and business improvement.”

Wavin UK has every reason to be proud of the investment it makes and of the first rate partnership with Unite.”

Unite's Andy Cullen said:

It’s good to see a construction manufacturing company like Wavin UK investing in its workers. The first centre opened at the Hazlehead site in 2015 giving Unite members the opportunity to develop their basic skills, personal development and qualifications.”

The expansion into Doncaster demonstrates that a partnership approach to learning means employees, the business and the economy benefits. The success of Learn with Unite at Wavin UK has been possible because of the hard work and commitment from the Union Learning Representatives on site”.

Paul Bend, Manufacturing Director for Hot and Cold at Wavin said:

Through establishing the Doncaster Learning Centre, we hope to highlight how other manufacturers can invest in the industry and help their employees thrive. Having Caroline’s support for our programme has been fantastic and we’re excited to see how our employees will develop their skills using the Learning Centre.”