Over 50,000 employees and members of the community have attended sessions at Severn Trent’s purpose-built training Academy since its doors first opened in February 2021.

The milestone comes after the water and waste company, that provides services to eight million customers across the Midlands, won the prestigious Princess Royal Training Award for its dedication to training and development.

Over 113,000 hours of free employability training have also been delivered to support its customers at the £10 million state-of-the-art facility, and also out in the community.

Sarah Harris, Head of Severn Trent’s Academy, said: “We wanted to have the most technically skilled employees in the industry and provide meaningful careers for all. We knew we had the knowledge internally to give to our new starters and to also give back to the community at the same time. We take pride in training employees to the best standards, so they can best serve our customers.

“The decision to build the Academy was a huge call - £10 million is a lot of money to invest in learning and development, but what we’ve achieved since opening for our employees and customers has been amazing.”

The company now has 140 apprentices on its in-house schemes compared to 12 when the facility first opened, with a pass rate of 100%. Over half a million training hours have also been delivered across multiple sites since the Academy was launched.

Sarah said: “It makes me feel an immense pride – we truly live our values at Severn Trent and The Academy - we really do want to make a difference every day.

“I genuinely think I have the best job at Severn Trent – every time I drive into Hawksley Park, I feel a sense of pride knowing what we can do for the organisation and the community. 

“We make sure every element of our training is experiential to ensure our employees are learning in a real-life, but safe environment, allowing them to practice the practical side of their job and how to give fantastic customer service.”

To find out more about Severn Trent’s Academy, and its apprenticeships visit www.severntrent.com/academy.