Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Three of Derby’s key economic sectors have hit the business headlines winning new awards, contracts, and funding.

Rolls-Royce was awarded £4 million from the Regional Growth Fund to help address skills shortages in manufacturing. The project will give young people more opportunities for work experience, internships and apprenticeships within Rolls-Royce which will also provide support and training to staff in the supply chain.

Business Secretary, Vince Cable, added that government and business has worked in partnership to develop an industrial strategy to ensure manufacturing continued to grow: “There are signs of momentum which we are determined to nurture, the UK economy badly needs technology and engineering skills. The shortfall is most acute in relation to women, where fewer than one in ten UK engineering professionals are female. This is not good enough and must improve.”

Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK also gained recognition last week with a Big Tick as part of the Responsible Business Awards 2014. Toyota achieved the Big Tick in the Sustainable Products and Services Awards category, which recognises businesses that use innovative thinking to make their operations environmentally sustainable.

Shigeru Teramoto, Managing Director at Toyota Manufacturing UK, said: “The environment is a priority issue for Toyota. As a business we are working hard to consolidate our position as one of the global leaders in environmental sustainability.

Finally, Bombardier won a £103 million contract with Virgin to extend its maintenance of the West Coast line. Des McKeon, Commercial Director UK of Bombardier Transportation, added: |The further extension of this key contract endorses yet again the strong relationship that we have built with out customer, Virgin Trains. By the end of this extension we will have been successfully maintaining their trains for nearly 20 years, delivering excellent performance of the Voyager fleet on the prestigious West Coast route.”