Polestar signs training deal for staff at Petty

Unite has signed a learning agreement with Polestar Petty, which it hopes will be rolled out across the group.

The agreement, which applies to all 435 employees at the site, commits the company to the Proskills Skills Pledge, as well as supporting government personal development initiatives.

Darren Stallan, a printer at Polestar Petty elected last year to be the site’s first learning representative, has been creating support for the agreement through a Learning Needs Analysis programme on site.

Russell Morgan, regional learning organiser at Unite, said: We’re easing staff into training before we consider full vocational courses. Many workers will not have trained for a long time so it’s really positive that this scheme is going ahead.

He added: In addition, we have made great improvements in our relationship with Polestar Sheffield in the hope the training ethos is spread across the group. Darren Stallan, who has championed the scheme, has really impressed so far.

The first planned programme is an internet and digital camera course. After this, the courses will be driven by the interests of the employees, with IT and languages being likely options.

Chris Bowen, managing director of Polestar, said: We hope that by making it easy for our employees to develop new skills and gain meaningful qualifications, we will continue to benefit from a workforce that is increasingly responsive to new ideas.

POLESTAR TRAINING AIMS
• Provision of digital camera and internet courses
• Future provision of vocational courses
• Promotion of training benefits across Polestar
• Increased cooperation between Unite and Polestar

Related news