A recent visit to Pilkington’s, St Helens by staff and apprentices of South Lanarkshire College, was facilitated by Helen Thompson of Pilkington’s who provided hospitality and access to staff members for the students to ask any questions they had. All the Pilkington’s staff were really friendly and gave the students their attention and time.
The apprentices were able to see for themselves the production of glass including rolled glass production at Watson Street and all the processes and a tour of Cowley Hill which took in the float glass production line and the new, state-of-the-art coatings processing line.
George Pendlebury, assessor and lecturer at South Lanarkshire College said “I would really like to thank Helen and her team for today’s tour. It was really beneficial for the apprentices to see how the material they will be using on a daily basis is manufactured from start to finish and it was very interesting to see the state-of-the-art technology of the coatings line also”.
Apprentice Liam Fullerton said “I didn’t realise the effort that went into glass production. It was great to see how what we are taught in theory lessons is put into practice. When I told the men back at my firm I was coming here to Pilkington’s they were really jealous”
Phil Douglas GQA EV said “Today has been a very successful visit thanks to Helen and all the staff at Pilkington’s who have been first class in giving up their time to talk and explain the glass production processes to the glazing apprentices. Also special thanks should go to George and his team who gave up their time to bring the lads all the way from Glasgow to St Helens for the trip. The thing that stood out for me was the apprentices were all very keen and proud of the chosen trades and used the occasion to their advantage and they are a credit to the College and to their respective employers.”
