British Glass’ Glass academy is expanding thanks to two new appointments. The Academy is a multi-million pound initiative aimed at reinvigorating the glass manufacturing sector by providing the highest quality training and skills development across the industry, working closely with employers, schools, colleges and training partners.
The Glass Academy, a new training and skills development initiative set up by Sheffield based British Glass Manufacturers’ Confederation, the trade association for the UK glass industry, has appointed two new members to the team in order to help drive the initiative forward.
Co-funded by the Government’s ‘Employers Ownership of Skills’ programme and the glass industry, The Glass Academy is a multi-million pound initiative aimed at reinvigorating the glass manufacturing sector by providing the highest quality training and skills development across the industry, working closely with employers, schools, colleges and training partners. The key objectives are to boost apprenticeships and up-skill the current workforce to achieve true global competitiveness, securing the future of and expanding an industry currently worth an estimated GBP 2.5 billion annually.
Charley Hurley joins in a Communications role and Hannah McShane is the Academy’s first work placement student.
In her newly created role, Charley will be responsible for communications across The Glass Academy and British Glass, focusing on ensuring the strategies across the communications mix are fully integrated and support the initiatives’ ambitious growth plans. She joins the company with experience in both client-side and agency roles in Marketing and PR across a wide range of industry sectors – from logistics to retail and FMCG to financial and medical.
Hannah McShane joins the team on a 10-month work based placement before she completes the final year of her Maths Degree at Northumbria University. She will be supporting the Glass Academy team, obtaining experience across various departments and playing a key role within the ‘Women in Engineering’ project, which aims to encourage more women into the glass industry at all levels, from pre-GSCE level through to graduates.
Dave Dalton, CEO at British Glass, commented: “We’re delighted to welcome Charley and Hannah to The Glass Academy team. It’s an exciting time as we gear up to the key September period when we will be driving the courses and education programmes forward. We will also be focusing on apprenticeships, developing relationships between schools, colleges, universities and the industry as well as up-skilling the existing 7,000 direct employees who provide employment for at least a further 150,000 jobs in the supply chain”.
“We have also just launched the new Glass Academy website after a full rebrand and refresh of the content and will be looking to add e-learning and a members’ resource centre. This will ensure we are providing our glass industry members with the highest quality training resources and most comprehensive information, with the overall aim of increasing competitiveness and growth within the industry.”