Toshiba has organised a programme of training courses around the country to help students prepare for their participation in the national SkillFRIDGE finals, which take place at the NEC in November.

The programme covers technical knowledge and practical skills in relation to residential and light commercial air conditioning, including installation, servicing and maintenance.

Students successfully completing the course will gain an industry-recognised Toshiba qualification, supported by a training card with a unique registration number. Students will add this number to their commissioning sheets in the competition as proof of competence.

The training events too/take place as follows:

•           Scotland: Glasgow Kelvin College: 13th October;

•           England: Bath College: 21st October;

•           Northern Ireland: BL Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Limited, Belfast: 31st October.

A total of six student finalists will attend the training sessions, timed to provide vital support in the month leading up to the SkillFRIDGE finals, being held at The Skills Show, NEC, on 17-19 November. SkillFRIDGE competition judges are invited to attend the courses along with candidate’s college tutors.

As lead sponsor for SkillFRIDGE, Toshiba is also providing the test rigs that will be used in the finals competition. The rigs are based on fully functioning Toshiba digital inverter or super digital inverter air conditioning split systems.

Neil Wooldridge, Toshiba’s technical manager, who is co-ordinating the programme, said: “The training is designed to prepare students to work on the rigs that will be used in the competition. It covers everything they need to know in order to install, commission and service the equipment, including safe operation in terms of the environment and H&S.”

Toshiba’s support for SkillFRIDGE is part of the company’s wider commitment to raise the bar in terms of industry skill levels. In line with this, it is also sponsoring the training feature at the ACR Show 2018, being held at Excel in London.

David Dunn, director and general manager of Toshiba and CIAT Ozonair (pictured), said: “SkillFRIDGE is a fantastic initiative that incentivises and rewards trainees – the industry’s standard bearers and potential leaders of tomorrow – in pursuit of excellence. We are delighted to be involved and will be giving the events our wholehearted support.

“As a global leader in high efficiency, high performance air conditioning, a key part of our role is to support and encourage the industry to improve the level of knowledge and technical skills. It is obviously in everyone’s interests to raise the bar, from the quality of design and installation through to commissioning and ongoing servicing and maintenance throughout the equipment lifecycle.”

Mr Dunn continued: “Toshiba is committed to raising standards, and we have invested in a national network of air conditioning training centres to provide high quality technical and hands-on training for customers. Our support for SkillFRIDGE underlines the importance we attach to raising competence standards.”

“Toshiba’s support for SkillFRIDGE is part of a long-term programme we have been pursuing over many years, aimed at raising skill levels and standards among installers and service engineers. In addition to our award-winning network of training centres, we recently launched a pioneering warranty scheme that provides levels of cover in line with the installer’s competence rather than size of spend.

He concluded: “We very much look forward to the forthcoming series of SkillFRIDGE events around the UK. In previous years, trainees with Toshiba customers have featured among the winners, not just nationally but globally. However, in true Olympic spirit, we will be cheering on all contestants to excel in their own competitions!”