Home > News > March 2009 > 09 March 2009

National Express opens new Midlands Training Academy

Thousands of employees are set to benefit from the new National Express Midlands Training Academy, officially opened in Aston by John Healey MP, Minister of State for Local Government and Communities.

National Express, one of the region’s biggest employers, has invested £235,000 in redeveloping the building that now homes the new Academy in Miller Street, Aston.

It is the third of its type to be opened by the coach and bus company in the last two years, joining academies in London and York.

Training at the Academy will include:

• Leadership programmes for team leaders and first line managers including a diploma in coaching
• Bite size programmes designed to develop interpersonal skills such as listening skills, time management and presentation skills
• A mentoring programme
• NVQ’s including driver training and customer service

It is anticipated that during 2009, the Academy will develop more than 5000 National Express staff, many of whom will be bus and coach drivers.

Councillor Jon Hunt from the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, Pat Jackson from Advantage West Midlands and Joe McConnell from Aston University joined the minister and Alex Perry, operations director at National Express Bus and Coach at the official opening.

John Healey said: "Every modern economy needs better skills and all staff need better training to stay on top of their jobs. National Express is leading by example in training and creating a confident staff that will enhance the future of the business."

Alex Perry, operations director of National Express UK Bus and Coach, said: "We want to instil our workforce with a wide range of skills and we are dedicated to providing good quality employment in the Midlands.

"We are looking forward to training and developing our employees, providing new skills that will in turn deliver an excellent public transport system for our customers."

External links

National Express

Training Reference is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites.

Training and development books

Discover books on a variety of training and development topics at the Training Reference Bookshop

Source suppliers

Visit the Training Reference Directory to view supplier details for a wide range of courses, products and services.

Sponsored links

Back to top