Horizon’s platforms go back to school to help train local young engineers
By Charlie Smart, Service Manager
When one of our apprentices said an access platform would be a great teaching aid for his course at Askham Bryan College we knew we could help. Here at Horizon we’re committed to nurturing local talent, so a boom lift is on its way.
It’s not just our apprentices who will be starting a new term this September. One of our bi-energy boom lifts will be taken through its paces as a new teaching aid. We want the best for our young engineers, so we made sure they had first-class equipment – ours!
Askham Bryan College will use their new access platform in workshops to train Construction Plant Maintenance students on how to care for machinery used in the industry. Based in York with centres across Yorkshire, they’re the UK’s largest land-based college, offering vocational further education courses for professions like ours.
Our long-standing relationship with the college has helped with our commitment to nurture local talent.
Over the last three years, they’ve supported our apprenticeship scheme here at Horizon. Our two apprentices, Connor and Jack, have set their sights high as they’ve worked on-site with us, as well as attending Askham Bryan’s specialist training programme.
It was Jack who suggested that working on one of our platforms during class would help him and his peers boost their technical skills. Having access to the boom lift will help students learn service and maintenance procedures, engine diagnostics and how to perform operational inspections. Across the courses, students will put theory into practice at both an intermediate and advanced level. We always want to give our trainees the right tools for the job, so we’ve made sure they’ll have the platform for the start of term.
This boom lift is one of the hundreds of access platforms we hire out to the construction industry each day. Giving students a chance to learn with our equipment will make sure they are even more prepared for the workplace, so that the next generation become the industry’s most confident specialists.
We’re raised locally so it’s important to us that – as we grow – we’re able to go above and beyond for our community.