EngPro

EngPro is a firm of experienced industry consultants delivering training solutions to clients across Aviation, Bus, and Rail.

The firm is shaking up the rail industry with a revitalised product offering that allows talented rail professionals to round out their roles, not just here in the UK but further afield, thanks to EAL Approved.

With ‘The Modern Production Supervisor,’ EngPro takes the fundamentals of efficient railway operation – safety and maintenance, regulations and responsibilities – and fuses it with an added dimension of soft skills: the personal approach to problem-solving that can make all the difference.

“Our pathway of training isn’t being offered elsewhere,” said Howard Leach, EngPro Managing Director. “There’s this gap in rail leadership training because this relationship-building style doesn’t generally resonate with learners.”

“Traditionally in the ‘good old days’ of rail, we showed developing talents how to make the step up to management of depots and departments, but it’s not something we see a lot of nowadays. With ‘Engineering Leadership’ I wanted to show that the benefits of this teaching style are still fundamental in safe and efficient rail management.”

Preventing maintenance costs spiralling upwards is a constant challenge – this applies to rail operators, airlines, and outsourced maintenance providers alike. In increasingly competitive markets, firms who can keep a handle on maintenance costs are at an advantage. Getting more for less by improving maintenance performance enables time to devote to those important and often overlooked customer perception items, as well as saving money.

To deliver on that, EngPro needed an established partner in skills solutions to assure prospective employers that the course met rigorous standards of development.

Through close communication with our partners, we get to understand their unique situation and find a solution that benefits them not just now, but for the future as they scale up their plans and ambitions.

EAL Approved is our course accreditation scheme which highlights the work done by training providers to meet the needs of local employers and education establishments. As well as reviewing the content of the training course initially, EAL Approved involves regular and thorough audits of Approved courses to ensure they continue to meet our exacting standards. The EngPro course on rail leadership draws on lessons of decades gone by – our job was to ensure the more modern, technical aspects of it were suitable for their intended purpose. With our long-standing expertise in the rail industry, EngPro saw EAL as the right choice for course accreditation.

With the EAL Approved mark, EngPro is confident that the material their providers create will continue to appeal to the right audience – those looking to make their mark in the industry, as well as the prospective employers to help them along. The unique mix of soft skills and technical know-how is just the head-start workers need to secure the sort of role that will grow the rail industry and maintain the UK’s reputation at the heart of it.

We supported EngPro in providing two unique registration codes for two unique courses, offering different perspectives on modern railway industry. One of the courses has been refreshed and redeveloped to meet the exacting standards of Middle East technical and safety requirements, and it was our pleasure to assist in registering this course and giving it the EAL seal of approval.

Such is the appeal of our industry’s heritage that overseas territories seeking to develop their own rail industry are looking to these firms for inspiration. Along with the 350 enrolled on EngPro’s course in the UK, the company is overseeing a similar project in the Middle East. A further 54 learners have enrolled on the rail management course in Saudi Arabia, looking to EngPro to help them make the same sort of operational efficiencies as rail companies are benefiting from on our shores.

EngPro carried out considerable work to localise the course material for different safety and technical regulations, as well as modifying the course’s cultural considerations for soft skills like building relationships.

With the EAL Approved seal of approval, EngPro was confident of finding the right overseas audience for the course. And thanks to EAL’s other innovations such as digital certificates through the Certify platform, we made the awarding process simpler, more convenient, and more efficient. With 54 overseas learners currently enrolled and a 95% pass rate among previous cohorts, EngPro is developing the next generation of rail management talent with an assured standard that is viewed as the default throughout the industry, in time for a rail revolution overseas.