In Severnside, near Bristol, overlooking the estuary lots of large manufacturing firms have set up business due to the good transport links to motorways and docks.

One such company is CHEP UK Ltd. It may not be a name to trip off the tongue, but if you have used, shifted and recycled a pallet, there’s a pretty good chance it originated from CHEP. The company began in Australia in 1945 and operates in over 50 countries with 12,500 staff producing, maintaining and recycling 238 million pallets. 

The CHEP plant at Severnside is a state-of-the-art pallet repair facility that opened in 2012 on an eight-acre location. It has nearly a hundred full-time employees working a 24-hour, seven-day operation. It can process approximately 100,000 pallets a week with most of the inspection, repair and repainting process occurring automatically. The service centre features a laser system, which checks the pallets for damage and robots that fit new pallet components as required and nails them securely in place.

With this amount of investment and technology CHEP need a workforce that is open to training and developing new skills. And the workplace union Unite was on board to support with learning and skills. 

Unite organises staff at the Severnside plant and Unite ULR Trevor Barry has been working with the employer to put in place a new learning centre in which staff can sign up for a number of different training opportunities.

Trevor is a Maintenance Fitter with CHEP and  started at the company September 1997, he took on the ULR role in 2014 after becoming enthused with the idea of employee development once the role was explained and how it could support colleagues at work.

Trevor said:

We have been sourcing a number of various learning opportunities for staff including English and ICT, delivered through N-Gaged – a local provider that has been sourced through Unite and delivered high quality training in other workplaces the union organises in.

Maths started on the 17th November and around 20 apprenticeships, including four workers under 30, in Manufacturing Operations and Team Leader, are just starting.

Around 20% of the workforce are migrant workers with some classes run specifically for them."

The partnership between the employer and the union has led to a real resurgence in learning opportunities and staff taking the chance to improve their skills. The employer has been supportive of the work around on-site learning and the union has negotiated 100% paid time-off, a learning centre and supporting presentations and events promoting the initiative.

Site Manager Nick Phillips says:

The project is a win-win with benefits for both the company and our workforce. Workers have gained life-skills with minimal disruption to the plant, achieved at minimal cost. The role of the union has been critical, the collaborative relationship is the key to success."

Matt Gillet, Union Learning Organiser with Unite South West said that working with CHEP has been a very positive experience for all involved and a fruitful partnership is developing. Part of this has been the new learning centre on the site

Matt added:

We met management and explained what was needed, the benefits of learning on site and working in partnership to achieve. Management funded the refit and built the room, paid for furniture, laptops. This is one positive example of what has happened by working together.

We have been focusing on English and maths to give people who'd fallen through the education system the opportunity to develop and improve the skills to help them in both their work and personal lives."

So far 85% of the workforce have gained English or maths qualifications or increased their skills following the union’s involvement - an illustration of the level of dedication from workers and their willingness to stretch themselves.

The union are really pleased with the way things have turned out, and Trevor summed things up:

I feel really passionate about the project and I'm very proud of what's been achieved, and of the lads’ dedication to their learning.

I also feel really proud that we have been able to get senior management to buy in. We need to make sure we stay on top of things and keep up the progress."