Building Engineering Services Training (BEST) has agreed new partnerships with ATL and Asset Skills UK as part of its expanded offering for the UK building engineering services sector.
BEST has formalised its established relationship with Apprenticeship Training Ltd (ATL), the largest independent private training provider for the building engineering service sector.

A strategic alliance was confirmed this month and signed by BEST ceo Dr Mark Brenner and ATL's managing director, Nick Hayward. The move follows the launch of the new ATL centre in Belfast at the end of 2011, which was developed in conjunction with BEST joint venture company, Plumbing and Mechanical Services Training, for the market in Northern Ireland.

Dr Brenner said: 'ATL's impressive track record on quality and service matches our own and their vision to create a national network of large centres providing quality, accessibility and value is welcomed for our sector.'

Mr Hayward added: 'For the good of our sector, all stakeholders need to begin working together in a more proactive manner and a proper spirit of cooperation and partnership. This alliance with BEST is exactly the sort of thing ATL wants to be doing and we look forward to a long and successful relationship.'

Within the alliance BEST apprenticeship programmes are supplemented with technical training from selected ATL centres and ATL programmes now have added work based learning and assessment capability from the BEST national assessment team. In addition, an initiative has been launched to allow unemployed people to undertake training in an introduction to working within the sector.

BEST has also formed a partnership with Asset Skills and has signed up to become part of the provider network for the Asset Skills UK Academy to deliver plumbing, mechanical and electrical accredited learning programmes to a number of FM companies.

BEST is already reaping the benefits of the link-up, with referral to a leading supermarket and national retail chain for in-store training. It is also working as part of the Asset Skills consortium to develop higher level craft apprenticeships for the FM sector.