Develop Training, one of the UK’s leading accredited providers of compliance, technical and safety training, is constructing a fully to-scale artificial street in York to provide immersive, real life training experiences within its replica buildings.
Made possible by an investment of £325,000 by Develop Training and its parent company, JTL, the artificial street launches in the spring, providing training in emergency response to gas incidents, as well as excavation safety, cable avoidance, sewer jetting and confined space entry.
Located next to Develop Training’s York training centre in Huby, the site will consist of purpose-built houses, apartments, a café, and a confined spaces area. The facility will offer free use to the North Yorkshire Emergency Services for training purposes.
An online competition to name the street has also been launched, taking place from 12th January to 28th February.
The judging panel will be made up of colleagues from across the JTL Group, with their chosen winner invited to the street’s ribbon cutting. The winner will also receive £500 worth of Amazon.co.uk gift vouchers.
John Kerr, managing director at Develop Training, said: “This is one of our most ambitious projects to date. This build, which can be likened to a set used for TV and film productions, will provide Develop Training with an invaluable base to provide new standards in technical safety training. The foundation of our training is in creating skills for real-world application, and this new street will serve only to strengthen that base.
“We’re also certainly looking forward to our ‘name the street competition’, as everyone on the judging panel has expressed their excitement toward choosing a winner from the submissions. It’s a great way for us to welcome some creativity whilst delivering something essential both for our learners, and the emergency services. Opportunities to support local communities are of huge importance to us and we’re excited to witness a variety of people benefit from the use of these new facilities.”
The naming competition is live now and can be entered at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/RL2JFZ7