LKQ invests £500,000 expanding UK training

LKQ Academy is opening 10 new training centres across the UK – in a £500,000 investment to help garages and bodyshops upskill technicians and support staff. The training arm of LKQ UK & Ireland has already opened two UK centres this year, with new sites in Glasgow and at its revamped Tamworth T1 base. A Manchester branch opens in April. Three more sites are set for the south of England later in 2024, with four more centres opening in 2025.

The company has recruited five new trainers as part of the expansion so far, alongside signing an exclusive contract with Andy Savva to deliver training on how garages and workshops can help to improve their operations, customer service and profitability.

The 10 new sites will add to LKQ Academy’s existing centres in Sunderland and Bristol, alongside 26 external sites, creating a total capacity of 11,000 seats on 80 different courses.

The new sites will use state of the art technology including virtual reality, to create engaging and impactful learning experiences for garage and bodyshop professionals to upskill.

Courses range from delivering the skills needed to service electric vehicles, to helping support staff to become more adept at handling customers’ technical queries. Last year the LKQ Academy launched a course designed to help bodyshops take action on sustainability, which sits alongside a range of course designed specifically for bodyshop technicians.

Alongside its in-person training, the LKQ Academy provides hundreds of e-learning courses, with new training soon to launch on topics from servicing hydrogen vehicles to identifying and fixing AdBlue system faults.

Lee Chapman, head of support, LKQ Academy, said: “We’re creating true UK wide coverage for the LKQ Academy, making our industry-leading in-person training accessible to most of the country’s professionals in a two-hour drive or less.

“We invest all proceeds from the LKQ Academy back into our training, which means all of our are courses part-funded to provide great value for customers. It’s the right thing to do to help the aftermarket ecosystem to succeed. If garages and bodyshops have the right skills to prosper, LKQ prospers with them.”

Andy Savva said: “It’s exciting to be joining forces with the LKQ Academy. Its dedication to providing high-quality training, represented by its latest expansion drive, mirrors my own commitment to supporting the growth and success of aftermarket businesses. I’m delighted to be delivering my training courses to their customers. Together, we look forward to equipping professionals with the tools and knowledge they need to thrive.”

Online training includes MOT CPD courses, with LKQ Academy advising garages to book on by 27 March 2024 to avoid missing the DVSA deadline to complete training by the end of March. More than 1,000 MOT testers are removed from the DVSA register every year by not completing the mandatory CPD on time.