Leeds College of Building has invested more than £100,000 in SCM woodworking machinery.
The college called on SCM area distributor JMJ Woodworking Machinery of East Yorkshire to discuss updating old machinery which, in many cases, no longer complied with new regulations.
Subsequently orders were placed for a number of SCM machines including an S520 thicknesser, S1350 panel saw, T150K spindle moulder, CO700 band saw, Sandya 3 automatic wide-belt sander, R800 band resaw and a RS65 Stromab cross-cut saw.
At the opening of the “state-of-the-art” centre, Clive Leach CBE, chairman of the local Learning and Skills Council, said: “This major investment places the college at the forefront of machine woodworking training in the country. I believe that construction is one of the most important areas for investment, and this centre is a vote of confidence in manufacturing and building crafts.”
David Hardcastle of Liversedge-based timber merchant J Bland & Co said: “We have experienced problems obtaining advanced training for our machinists after the training provision in Huddersfield closed. As a major importer of hardwoods, we can only realise our growth plans if our workforce is adequately trained on the latest machines and skilled to do the job.”
