Hull-based Ideal Heating is investing £1m in an Expert Academy expect ted to open next month to equip installers with the skills to fit, maintain and service domestic and commercial heat pumps.
The new Training and Technology Centre is at Insignia Park in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, just a few minutes from Luton and the M1 motorway.
The new hub follows the opening in January 2023 of the award-winning Expert Academy’s pioneering National Training and Technology Centre in Hessle, East Yorkshire.
The purpose-built £2.2m National Training and Technology Centre was the first dedicated centre of its kind in the UK. The training it offers is also focused primarily on green technologies, as the industry transitions from traditional gas boilers to environment-friendly alternatives.
Ideal Heating is part of Groupe Atlantic, a global leader in thermal comfort. Andrew Johnson, Training Director for Groupe Atlantic UK, Republic of Ireland and North America, said: “Following the huge success of our National Training and Technology Centre, we know just how much our customers value the importance of industry-leading facilities.
“We believe in providing the highest quality training experiences possible with carefully designed programmes and first-class facilities across the UK.
“Our training technologies, together with our comfortable and relaxed learning spaces, provide the best learning environments for our expert team to deliver unrivalled training.
“We’re delighted to be opening this impressive new facility, which is ideally positioned, with excellent road and rail links, for us to serve large areas of the South East, London and the central corridor.”
Ideal Heating is part way through a £60m investment programme at its main UK manufacturing and logistics hub in Hull, where over 800 people are employed. This investment includes a new £10m UK Technology Centre, which will play a key role in developing and testing low carbon heating solutions.