Marvin OnumonuMitie has opened a new cleaning training centre at Manchester Airport, supporting skills development and training for airport cleaning staff.
The centre offers practical training and digital skills, helping colleagues build confidence in the fast-paced airport environment.
The centre allows staff to train with Mitie’s autonomous cleaning robots, known as cobots, and its digital task management system, Merlin.
Staff learn to programme and map cobots, supporting cleaning work across the airport.
Merlin is used in onboarding training so new staff can practise using digital tools before working in the airport.
This follows Mitie’s work at other UK transport hubs, including Heathrow Airport, where 380 cleaning colleagues were upskilled and over 130 new starters were onboarded in the first three months.
Mark Allen, account director, service delivery cleaning at Mitie, said: “This new Training Centre of Excellence is about investing in our people and giving them the right tools, confidence and support to succeed.
“By combining high-quality, practical training with digital technology like our cleaning robots, we’re building a workforce that is confident, capable and ready to meet the evolving needs of Manchester Airport and the millions of passengers who travel through it every year.”
Paul Lupton, head of facilities management at Manchester Airport, said: “We’re proud be the North’s gateway to the world and first impressions are important – that’s why we’ve invested £1.3bn in our state-of-the-art Terminal 2 and are also carrying out work to improve and modernise Terminal 3, but on top of that, it’s also important our terminals are looking their best.
“That’s where our partnership with Mitie is so vital, and we appreciate their commitment to keeping at the cutting edge, giving their staff access to the best training available and refining their working practices to ensure we’re able to collectively provide a world-beating passenger experience.”
