IMI Calls On Automotive Businesses to Invest In Skills or Risk Failure

In the run up to the launch of its Professional Register in April, The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) is calling on automotive businesses to invest in training or risk failure as the UK faces a triple-dip recession.  The lack of management and customer service skills, coupled with the quickening pace of technological advances is creating the perfect storm for motor industry businesses looking to survive and prosper over the next three years.

Steve Nash, the IMI’s new CEO and former BMW UK Aftersales Director, comments: “There’s no question that our industry needs to up-skill.  Managers, especially those in small businesses, typically do not possess the formal training in areas such as sales, customer service and financial planning, to survive and prosper.  In an industry that suffers from poor public perception, having well skilled staff can make the difference between the life and death of a business.”

“Businesses need to recognise the importance of training their people and invest in it.  Too often training is simply seen as a cost and is the first thing to be cut when times are hard.  The fact is that well trained people will sustain a business and bring the good times earlier.  This is even more important for small businesses where having a wider skill set is vital in running the enterprise.”

“As a result, we are putting skills at the forefront with our new voluntary licence to practice for the industry.  The Professional Register is the only scheme that recognises the skills and qualifications of the individual and therefore provides businesses and individuals with a means to leverage their investment in training for commercial advantage for the first time.  We hope that this will put skills at the top of the agenda for our industry for the foreseeable future.”

Backed by the Government’s UK Commission for Employment & Skills (UKCES), the Professional Register will be available for public viewing from April at www.imiregister.org.uk and aims to have 50,000 registered individuals by 2014.  The IMI has also developed a large portfolio of CPD training which aims to address all of the major skills needs in the retail motor industry.  To find out more visit www.theimi.org.uk/cpd.