Training in Swindon, UK

Swindon

In the South West England county of Wiltshire, the large town of Swindon is located within the Borough of Swindon. It is located 114 km from London to the west. It has a relatively large population than most towns in UK. The name Swindon was given to this town in 1952 under the Town Development Act. A unique thing about Swindon is its Bodleian Library’s book depository which contains 246 km of bookshelves.

The climate of Swindon is like all of the British Isles which have a maritime climate type. Considering its latitude, the summers are comparatively cool and the winters are mild. Swindon has an area of about 40 square kilometres. The chalk hills of the Wiltshire Downs to the south and east dominate the landscape. From Roman times until 1950s, the town stood on a hill of Purbeck and Portland stone. In the areas of Penhill and Pinehurst, the New Swindon is made up of mostly kimmeridge clay with outcrops of corallian clay. Rest of borough is made up of Oxford clay. The town’s western boundary is formed by River Ray which includes it tributary, River Cole.

The economy of Swindon is quite good, and it is based on different types of industries. There are Honda and BMW/Mini car production plants at old Vickers factory site in South Marston and Stratton respectively. Mobile phone company Nokia Networks, international engineering consultancy firm Halcrow, Dolby Labs and retailer W H Smith’s distribution centre and headquarters are also located in Swindon. On the south side of the town, electronics company, Intel, has its European head office. Swindon also has the head office of the National Trust. There are several other companies that have their UK divisions headquartered in this town. These include insurance and financial services companies such as Zurich Financial Services and Nationwide Building Society, the energy companies like RWE and the fuelcard, pharmaceutical companies like Catalent Pharma Solutions, Vygon UK Ltd, Canada’s Pantheon and the fleet management company Arval.

Swindon has developed into a transport hub over the centuries because of the junction of two Roman roads. It is on the historical GWR and on canals. Two junctions (15 and 16) on the M4 Motorway are also here. In 1842, the Swindon railway station opened as Swindon Junction. Until 1895, every train stopped here for at least 10 minutes to change locomotives. Because of this, this station had the first railway refreshment rooms. Stagecoach and Thamesdown are the bus operators in this town. A famous spot in Swindon is the town’s large roundabout which is called Magic Roundabout.

Following are the companies that provide HGV training in Swindon:

360 North

This company is a specialist in providing HGV training. A candidate can obtain training for :

• Cat C driving license
• C+E driving license

Here one can learn to become a safer HGV driver as HGV training is provided here by qualified and experienced driving instructors. One qualified ongoing career development and legislation advice will keep the candidate up to speed with industry and European legislation. The training constitute of intensive training course that is 5 day long.

The LGV Training Company

The LGV Training Company provides one with the training he needs to become a professional Category C or C+E Driver. The requirements are very simple:

• No previous qualifications.
• A UK driving licence.
• A passion for the open road.

The course material is innovative and makes learning fun. The experienced training advisors and top class instructors will make sure that the students receive the tailor-made learning experience they deserve.

• Category C (All Rigid Vehicles) license will enable one to drive any rigid vehicle with a small trailer. The company trained candidates earn up to 25k a year.
• The Category C+E (Articulated Vehicles) license holder can potentially earn up to 30K a year. The training takes only 5 days if the candidate already has a C license.

Truck School Swindon

Truck School Swindon offers professional driver training. The HGV training courses offered here are:

• C1 which is about rigid vehicle up to 7.5 tonnes.
• C  which is about any HGV (HGV 2/3).
• C+E is also about any HGV (HGV1).

The courses are planned to cover all one needs to know in order for him to pass his HGV driving test first time. This company also arranges the driving test for his students on the last day of their course. The training normally starts at 8:00am and finishes at 4.00pm with one hour break during the day.

The basic syllabus for each trainee for each course is the same. However, the time that each trainee needs on any one subject can vary; therefore, in view of this the course is planned to take this into account. The length for one’s training will depend on his own natural driving ability and also on the previous HGV driving experience one may have. After the assessment, the instructor could recommend less training which allows one to pay less for his training.