Funding is now available for businesses to train their young textile technicians across the UK, as part of UKFT’s mission to raise the skills and productivity of the people who work in the fashion and textiles industry to the highest level.

UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) has secured support from The Worshipful Company of Weavers and The Worshipful Company of Drapers to match-fund 50% of the costs of in-depth training for young textile technicians, predominantly in weaving positions.

As companies invest in new textile technology, the requirement for highly-skilled textile technicians have never been more important, but this type of in-depth training is not currently available in the UK, the association reports. “Training is carried out by machinery builders at overseas training schools and due to its specialised nature, is extremely expensive.”

The new scheme builds on the success of other match-funded technician training programmes and opens the initiative to companies across the UK. It is open to textile technicians under the age of 30 and businesses can apply to UKFT from the start of 2019.

“This type of training is a critical way of ensuring that the UK textile sector remains competitive against global competition. It is great news that employers across the UK can now access funding to train textile technicians to allow the industry to capitalise on all the opportunities that exist for further growth,” said Martin Jenkins, Project Manager at UKFT.

“UKFT is deeply grateful to Weavers’ and Drapers’ Companies for their support in upskilling the textile technicians of the future.”

www.ukft.org