News 14 www.aftermarketonline.net NOVEMBER 2024 One of the highlights of the event was a presentation by the founder of School of Thought Automotive Dave Reece. Reece gave an insight into the huge generation gap in the sector and outlined solutions to build a more sustainable workforce well into the future. He also described the activities of The School of Thought Automotive Programme, which was established in 2019 as part of Ready4Work Community Interest Company — a not-for-profit organisation created to elevate the profile of the automotive industry in school years nine to 12, targeting pupils, parents, and educational institutions. School of Thought Automotive is a programme that will benefit young people in their search for a career, and companies looking for their next generation of employees. Work experience “Together we can promote the industry and companies by engaging with education,” Reece said. “The work of making our industry visible to education has been done by the research, development and connections carried out by School of Thought since its launch. It’s now time to move the programme forward and make full use of the hard work. “Our new website (www. schoolofthoughtautomotive.co.uk) has been developed for young people to find out more information about the careers in the industry, what an apprenticeship or internship is and what subjects they need to study.” The website also includes a section showcasing current partners from all parts of the industry, giving visitors the chance to understand that the industry “is more than spanners and spray guns”, Reece said. Apprenticeships “School of Thought Automotive thinks our sector is big enough and important enough to have its own dedicated week in the national event calendar. In collaboration with Autotech Group we launched the very first National Automotive Careers Week, held last April, focusing on work experience.” Having a dedicated week will present Creative lesson in recruitment for next aftermarket generation David Reece (right) hands over the colourful fund-raiser to Ben
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