It has been another successful year of innovation for Knorr-Bremse – and the leading braking systems manufacturer is set to celebrate the future success of the industry as a whole as a sponsor at this year’s Institute of Road Transport Engineers (IRTE) Skills Challenge. A resilient performance over the past 12 months by the company’s two divisions – Rail Vehicle Systems and Commercial Vehicle Systems – saw order intake and revenue rise significantly, while profitability rose into double digit figures too.
The past year has seen Knorr-Bremse celebrate a string of business wins, some key acquisitions and major supplier partnership deals, while it picked up a number of industry awards including the Supply Chain Management Award 2022 and the Innovation Award at the 2022 Automechanika trade fair.
Now it is hoping to inspire similar success stories – and reward – the best among the next generation of coach and bus apprentices and technicians as a key sponsor of this year’s IRTE Skills Challenge.
Pioneered by IRTE, the Skills Challenge is an initiative that aims to champion and reward the vital work and skills of coach and bus engineers nationwide.
The challenge covers theoretical and practical tests and will be carried out at S&B Automotive Academy in June. The awards will be presented to the winners and runners up at a reception ceremony in September.
Tim Ford, Head of Aftermarket Sales and Customer Service at Knorr-Bremse, says that sponsoring the IRTE Skills Challenge and the awards – and investing in apprenticeships and other engineering skills training courses – is vital to the long-term success of the industry.
And Mr Ford says that the Challenge is the perfect springboard for apprentices and technicians to take their careers to the next level too.
He adds: “Knorr-Bremse believes that apprenticeships – and indeed co-operative education programmes where young people come over to the UK – are vital to the career development of individuals and the future growth of the sector as a whole.
“We’re delighted to be sponsoring the IRTE Skills Challenge once again and look forward to seeing just what the next generation can do.”
Visit irteskills.org.uk
