Major group sets up training college

The UK College of Environment and Transport is located at Hedsor House near Maidenhead, and is based on the Institut de L’Environement which was established in 1994 near Paris to provide training to Vivendi Environment companies in France.

The unique feature of the college is that it focuses predominantly on providing training for operatives, which is linked to external qualifications such as NVQs. There are also opportunities for ‘New Deal’ applicants to find employment with the company and receive the same standard of training as existing staff. Management training is catered for with ISM and MBA programmes.

Henri Proglio, Senior Executive Vice-President of Vivendi, said at the official opening of the college by DETR Minister Hilary Armstrong, “The right training for our staff is absolutely essential. We live in a rapidly changing world. The UK College will ensure that we meet both our customers’ and our employees’ expectations.

At the opening, 11 Onyx operatives were presented with their “Multi-skilling” certificates by the Minister, who said: “I want to see the day when this is the norm, not the exception, with everyone in the public services sector acknowledging that they cannot be effective unless they train their workforce.”