Volvo U.K. opens a £6 million ($8 million) training facility for its staff and retail network, replacing a 35-year-old site, and will recruit 300 technicians to its retail network by 2020.
The new center in Daventry, Northamptonshire, 80 miles (108 km) north of London, is designed to bring Volvo’s U.K. training in line with its status as a premium brand and the technologically advanced nature of its latest products.
Volvo says each year thousands of people from Volvo’s network will use the site’s advanced 16-bay vehicle workshop, auditorium and classroom spaces which feature remote video and web-based technologies that support off-site and online training.
Training will range from the mechanical to the digital, with the center equipped for Volvo’s rapid advancement in technologies such as electrification and autonomous drive.
The design and operations at the center also reflect two initiatives being introduced to the company’s retail network: Volvo Retail Experience (VRE) and Volvo Personal Service (VPS).
VRE is a new design based around Scandinavian-inspired values of calm, clean lines with “cool on the outside and warm on the inside”-style architecture. It aims to create an environment for customers in which high levels of visual transparency are key. Large exterior and interior glazing allows customers to see all activity in the new workshops.
VPS, meanwhile, embodies Volvo’s philosophy of putting people at the center of everything it does. It streamlines aftersales functions to improve workshop efficiency while delivering personal service to Volvo customers through a dedicated service technician.
Volvo U.K. Managing Director Jon Wakefield says the new training facility represents a significant commitment to both the automaker’s operations in Daventry and its U.K. retail network.
“The site is a fitting accompaniment to Volvo’s transformation into a true premium car brand that is a technological leader, as well as the big improvements we are introducing to the customer experience,” he says in a statement.
Volvo already is hosting training courses for its new XC40 premium compact CUV, which will appear in U.K. dealerships early in 2018.
