Education, Education and Education

Earlier this year, a number of Technical Surfaces Maintenance Technicians celebrated passing their Level 2 NVQ in Sport and Play Surfaces with a certificate handover event at their National Offices in Leicester.

Attended by Dr Colin Young from SAPCA and Naz Khan, assistant principle at South Birmingham College, the celebratory event marked an important milestone not only for Technical Surfaces, but for the synthetic pitch maintenance industry as a whole.

The NVQ2: Sport and Play Surfaces was launched in October 2008 by SAPCA in partnership with SkillsActive, EdExcel and South Birmingham College. The synthetic sports surface industry was previously unregulated, although it has long been an ambition of trade associations, key sports governing bodies and member companies including Technical Surfaces to see a comprehensive qualifications and training programme established.

In 2009 the company became the first maintenance company to enrol on the training programme. "We have since worked in close partnership with South Birmingham College to ensure the NVQ continues to meet the needs of our industry", commented Jonathan Gunn, Technical Director at Technical Surfaces. "We are pleased to announce that our input and knowledge has actually influenced changes to the qualification for the new framework. Re-shaping the blueprint and setting the standard for training throughout our industry is an achievement of which we are immensely proud, both for ourselves and for the future growth and development of the synthetic sports surface industry."

The NVQ is an historic step for the industry, and a national recognition and endorsement of the message Technical Surfaces been communicating for over ten years. The company motto is 'Maintaining Standards', and this qualification enables them to deliver the quality of services that their customers expect.

"Our in-house training programme and years of industry experience give our technicians a good grounding in the particulars of maintenance, and their knowledge and expertise is now supported with a qualification that gives them transferable skills and opportunities for advancement."

Jonathan and the whole team at Technical Surfaces now wait in anticipation for the Level 3 qualification, to further enhance their skills and help improve standards in the industry."

For further information please call Technical Surfaces' National Office on 08702 400 700 or visit www.technicalsurfaces.co.uk and ask to speak to a Technical Manager.

Image: L to R. Jonathan Gunn (Technical Surfaces) stands next to Colin Young (SAPCA) on the far left with Naz Khan, (South Birmingham College) next to Henry Hutchinson (Operations Manager at Technical Surfaces) in the centre and Keith Selvey (South Birmingham College) on the far right.