Ideal Heating opened a new £1m training center to serve the south of England. The Training and Technology Center is strategically located close to the M1 north of London, meaning it is easily accessible for thousands of heating engineers across the South and much of the Midlands.
The new facility is at Insignia Park in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, just a few minutes from Luton.
skills to fit, maintain, and service
It will be used by the Expert Academy training team to equip installers with the skills to fit, maintain, and service domestic and commercial heat pumps.
Ideal Heating unveiled a new facility with a special launch event attended by representatives from across the heating industry.
new Training and Technology Center
CEO Shaun Edwards said, “Opening our new Training and Technology Center means we can support even more installers with the transition to working with low-carbon heating products like heat pumps."
“Our training facilities are best in class and this new center features the latest testing and simulation equipment which provides installers with hands-on, practical experience. With our Expert Academy, we’re pioneering the industry to upskill the existing workforce and equip installers for the green heating revolution.”
training center features
There are display areas showcasing the industry-pioneering range of domestic and commercial heating products
The new Training and Technology Center features four spacious training areas, all kitted out with the latest equipment and technology. The center also houses a large conference facility and a comfortable café area. There are also display areas showcasing an industry-pioneering range of domestic and commercial heating products.
Spread over 16,000 sq ft, the facilities and equipment include a live heat pump training suite and thermodynamic fault-finding simulators, giving installers hands-on experience with some of the common situations they’ll deal with when working out in the field.
purpose-built facility
The new hub follows the opening in 2023 of Ideal's first National Training and Technology Center in Hessle, East Yorkshire. The purpose-built facility was the first dedicated center of its kind in the UK and is also focused primarily on green technologies.
With the opening of the sister southern facility, Ideal Heating has flagship training bases in both the North and South of England. The Expert Academy has more than 20 UK training facilities, stretching from Fife in Scotland to Dorset in the south of England.
best-in-class facilities
The Training Director, Andrew Johnson, said, “Our training operations are focused on three key components. Firstly, creating best-in-class facilities for installers to learn in. The opening of this new center offers exactly that and is a showcase for our unique offering to the heating industry."
“The second component is our team. Our Expert Academy trainers have 300 combined years of industry experience. Their level of knowledge and capabilities is phenomenal and is the key to our success in re-training heating engineers."
free/low-cost training
“Finally, we’re committed to delivering our training to installers either for free or at low cost. We’re working closely with the Department for Education to provide Skills Bootcamp courses to installers, and we’re investing in our Expert Academy digital platform to deliver training flexibly and easily.”
Ideal Heating will soon launch a new advanced heat pump technician and fault-finding course, with the program expected to begin in July.
