Daikin UK has opened a brand new national training and technology centre in Woking, Surrey, offering industry-leading facilities for hands-on training using the very latest technologies. Investment in the new £1.1m training centre demonstrates the company’s commitment to advancing the future of the industry by helping to meet the demand for suitably qualified and experienced engineers.
The engineering skills shortage is seen as one of the biggest challenges for HVAC installation companies in the UK today. A recent report by Daikin UK found that 83% of HVAC companies are finding it very difficult to hire suitably qualified engineers.
The European heat pump market has seen significant growth in the last two years, opening up new business opportunities for installers, so it is now an urgent requirement for HVAC companies to have access to a wider skill base of design, installation and commissioning engineers to cope with demand for high quality installations.
As such, the new national training centre aims to provide engineers with the specialist product and installation skills required to support the expansion of the air conditioning industry and further encourage the growth of the UK renewables market.
Daikin’s survey also found that 99% of companies found product training from manufacturers useful, with 60% wanting training in the latest software tools and 53% wanting theoretical training too. A majority of companies preferred ‘hands on tools’ training over and above online or classroom based training.
The Woking training centre is equipped with the latest range of fully operational Daikin UK products so engineers can learn while on the tools. A wide range of courses is available to HVAC engineers across the technology portfolio, including product selection, installation, servicing and maintenance. These programmes offer installers both hands-on and classroom based learning from experienced Daikin UK trainers with extensive knowledge of the market and the products.
The centre features eight heating training bays, as well as a whole floor dedicated to air conditioning technologies, numerous demonstration rooms and an online training room with digital conferencing facilities.
John Durbin, Daikin UK’s technical sales manager, who led the training centre development project, said: “Our UK training centres are designed to help raise the standards of UK HVACR engineers. At Daikin UK, we recognise the business potential for expertly trained installers and we want to help the HVACR industry to grow by training professionals to have the very latest product and service capabilities. We have listened to the market and we are addressing the issues they are facing at present by creating a variety of market-relevant courses.
“Practical, hands-on product training is in high demand and the new facility in Woking stands as an exemplar of this kind of teaching for the entire industry. We hope that installers will take the time to visit the new centre in Woking and see the array of courses and facilities we have available to help them develop their skills even further.”
