Ideal Heating has officially opened a new £1m training centre serving the south of England.
The Training and Technology Centre, located at Insignia Park in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, is dedicated to low carbon technologies as Ideal Heating looks to expand its UK footprint.
The new training centre will be used by Ideal Heating’s Expert Academy training arm to equip installers with the skills to fit, maintain and service domestic and commercial heat pumps.
The facility opened its doors with a launch event attended by representatives from across the heating industry last week.
Shaun Edwards, Ideal Heating’s CEO, said: “Opening our new Training and Technology Centre means we can support even more installers with the transition to working with low carbon heating products like heat pumps.
“Our training facilities are best in class and this new centre features the latest testing and simulation equipment which provides installers with hands-on, practical experience.
“With our Expert Academy, we’re leading the industry to upskill the existing workforce and equip installers for the green heating revolution.”
Ideal Heating’s new Training and Technology Centre features four training areas, plus a conference facility and café area. There are also display areas showcasing Ideal Heating’s range of domestic and commercial heating products.
Spread over 16,000 sq ft, the facilities and equipment include a live heat pump training suite and thermodynamic fault-finding simulators, giving installers hands-on experience of some of the common situations they’ll deal with when working out in the field.
The new hub follows the opening last year of Ideal Heating’s first National Training and Technology Centre in Hessle, East Yorkshire.
With the opening of the sister southern facility, Ideal Heating now has flagship training bases in both the north and south of England. The company’s Expert Academy has more than 20 UK training facilities, stretching from Fife in Scotland to Dorset in the south of England – serving the heating industry and the nation’s 120,000 installers.
Andrew Johnson, Ideal Heating’s training director, added: “Our training operations are focused on three key components.
“Firstly, creating best-in-class facilities for installers to learn in. The opening of this new centre offers exactly that and is a showcase for our unique offering to the heating industry.
“The second component is our team. Our Expert Academy trainers have 300 combined years of industry experience. Their level of knowledge and capabilities is phenomenal and is the key to our success in re-training heating engineers.
“Finally, we’re committed to delivering our training to installers either for free, or at low cost. We’re working closely with the Department for Education to provide Skills Bootcamp courses to installers, and we’re investing in our Expert Academy digital platform to deliver training flexibly and easily.”
Ideal Heating is set to soon launch a new advanced heat pump technician and fault-finding course, with the programme expected to begin in July.