Karl officially opened the fourth RMI Academy of Automotive Skills training site in Lincoln on 27 September 2021. This academy is being run in partnership with Lincoln’s PK Automotive Solutions, based on the Deacon Business Park.

The new training site is now one of only four such academies (Runcorn, Winchester and Southam), where a wide range of weekly MOT and technical training courses are available to all garages in the motor trade.

This new facility is part of the RMI’s commitment addressing the skills shortage in the automotive industry by providing affordable, high-quality training for garages on a more local basis.

Karl said: “I am absolutely delighted to see a new training centre for automotive technicians opening within my constituency, offering as it does a wonderful opportunity for young people in our community to learn skills that will support them for the rest of their lives.

“But by partnering a fantastic long-standing local firm with a dedicated expert professional body, to focus on Hybrid and EV vehicle training, this particular centre also puts Lincoln at the cutting edge of technology.

“This will offer a double-whammy of opportunity for trainees and the sector as a whole, at a time when only around 5% of technicians in the UK are currently qualified to work on these vehicles.”

Stuart James, RMI Director comments: “As the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars approaches, the lack of technicians skilled in hybrid and electric vehicle repair is one of the biggest threats to this plan.

“We would like to thank Karl for supporting our efforts in this step forward to provide the skills needed for technicians in the local community to repair the growing number of hybrid and electric vehicles on our roads.”

You can watch Karl speaking with Paul Killingworth, the Managing Director of PK Automotive at the launch: https://fb.watch/8zSOnVx4tE/