The owners of major Fife building firm Raeburn Construction have set up a sister company to provide a wide variety of training.
Based in Kirkcaldy, Raeburn Training will offer courses in a variety of disciplines including health and safety, construction plant, first aid and IT training.
Director Sarah Raeburn said there was a gap in the market for specialised training in Fife, with many employers having to send staff to centres in Edinburgh.
She said: “With our construction business we have spent a lot of money over the years on training and health and safety courses. We have said for years that we need to set up a training arm.
“Raeburn Training is a standalone company and we have taken time to do market research to find out what the appetite is out there for another training company, what the frustrations are and what courses are in demand.
“We spoke to more than 30 companies across Edinburgh and Fife – not specifically construction, across a full range of industries.
“It has given us confidence that there’s a gap in the market and certainly room for another provider.”
Raeburn Training has set up in offices at Mitchelston Industrial Estate and delivers across Fife, Tayside and the Lothians.
Its initial course offering includes site supervisor / management training, plant training, emergency first aid at work and IT training across the Microsoft product suite.
The company’s can provide a complete training plan support service and also assisting construction companies navigate Construction Industry Training Board funding options.
The firm’s formation has been led by Jen Hancock, who previously worked as human resources manager for Raeburn Construction.
“We were fortunate that Jen came from a learning and development background and knew how to organise and run a training plan that was really slick,” Mrs Raeburn added.
“She was ready for a change in job so she has joined Raeburn Training as development manager.
“Some of the trainers will be employees, some will be freelance and some we are training up from Raeburn Construction.
“We won’t be stopping at our first offering of courses.
“We are looking to develop courses for mental first aid, which rightly has a huge demand at the moment.
“We also hope to become an SQA approved centre and that would let us cover practical skill in civil groundworks, further health and safety courses and business administration.”
rmclaren@thecourier.co.uk