News & Events

The Logistics Industry in the District will be given a major boost thanks to the opening of a new training centre in the region. The Forklift and Warehousing Training Centre of Excellence is being opened by Wakefield College at the Aire and Calder Industrial Park in Castleford early in the New Year.

The new Centre will provide state of the art training facilities for people working within or wishing to work within the fork lift and warehousing industries. Some of the areas covered in the training will include mechanical handling, equipment, logistics, health and safety and operations management. Individuals will also be given hands on experience of operating fork lifts, cherry and reach pickers too.

The College’s Market Development Manager, Janet Hilton, said: “The Wakefield and Castleford area is already a recognised hub for the region’s logistics and warehousing industries and the opening of this new centre will contribute to a further boost in skills levels which will benefit both the economy and individuals through this brand new Centre of Excellence in the region.”

The need for a centre which provides health and safety training for the industry was further reiterated following a recent report from the Fork Lift Truck Association which suggested Wakefield was the second worst black-spot in the country for accidents involving fork lift trucks. The startling facts reveal that areas within Yorkshire account for three of the top six accident areas.

The College’s commercial training arm, Services to Business, is already an accredited ITTSAR (Independent Training Standards Scheme and Register) training provider and proud holder of the Training Quality Standards (TQS) Award with excellence in the field of Freight, Logistics and Warehousing.