IMI News

Car donation helps Lloyds TSB Autolease and City College Birmingham to raise automotive skill levels

Birmingham based fleet funding and management company Lloyds TSB Autolease have donated a vehicle to the automotive department of City College Birmingham to help the studies of a new intake of students embarking on Motor Vehicle courses this September.

The car, formerly a fleet vehicle, was donated to the college as part of Lloyds TSB Autolease’s involvement with The Institute of the Motor Industry’s Skillmiles scheme which awards points to organizations and individuals who help to support the Institute’s work in raising skill levels across the sector.

Speaking at the handover of the vehicle, George Reid, Head of Technical Services at Lloyds TSB Autolease said:
“We are delighted to present City College Birmingham with a car that we hope will help to train the technicians of the future.  At Lloyds TSB Autolease we are passionate about raising the skill levels of people working in this sector and we know that this vehicle will help the team at the college to continue to raise this level.”

On receiving the vehicle, Principal of the college, David Gibson commented:
“It gives me great pleasure to accept the car on behalf of the college.  This vehicle will give our students studying for automotive qualifications the opportunity to develop their knowledge of the latest diagnostic technology found on the vehicles of today.  We’d like to thank Lloyds TSB Autolease for their kind donation.”

More than 30,000 SkillMiles points have already been awarded by the IMI so far, in reward of activity such as participation on working groups or loan of vehicles or equipment, for example. Collectively, these points are equivalent in value to over £300,000 of support from across the sector.

Through the scheme, the IMI will also be able to show the Government that employers and individuals in the automotive retail industry are making valuable contributions to skills development, which had not been recognised previously on an industry-wide scale.

To register on the scheme, visit www.motor.org.uk/skillmiles

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Notes to Editors:

The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI)
The IMI is the professional association for individuals working in the retail motor industry and the Sector Skills Council for the automotive sector, part of the Skills for Business network. It is also the governing body for the Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) scheme, which has more than 10,500 accredited technicians.

Lloyds TSB Autolease
With nearly 50 years’ experience in the fleet industry, Lloyds TSB Autolease is one of the UK’s leading fleet management and funding specialists, and currently own and manage almost 1 in every 200 vehicles on UK roads.
Our mission is to help our customers balance the challenges of cost, choice and responsibility and our unparalleled understanding of the fleet industry has enabled us to develop innovative, market-leading products and services.
We are regularly recognised for our outstanding service and innovation.  We were ranked number 1 overall for 2007 in the apd Landmark survey - the leading independent customer satisfaction survey in our industry, and were named ‘Best Fleet Leasing and Management Company’ at the Fleet News Awards 2007 - the third time in five years.

City College Birmingham
City College Birmingham has over 18,000 students and over 800 staff and is one of the largest and most diverse Further Education colleges in the West Midlands. The college has a wide range of provision, from entry level to degree level and has specialist provision in Electrical Installation, Motor Vehicle, Business & Quality, Hair & Beauty, Fashion, Construction Crafts, Skills for Life and courses for young people and adults with learning difficulties and disabilities. With 7 campuses and 2 women only centres spread across Birmingham, we have a strong partnership with employers and community organisations. City College Birmingham brings education and training into the heart of Birmingham’s social and business communities. For further information on courses contact our Course Enquiries Team on 084 50 50 11 44 or email onenquiries@citycol.ac.uk.