A significant increase in demand for training has been reported by The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).
The organisation said the number of training days sold through its Fleet Academy in 2023 had already surpassed last year’s total.
AFP chair Paul Hollick said the increase reflected several trends, including higher interest in formal training among fleet industry professionals, and a general post-pandemic move across the workforce to enhance levels of qualification.
He said: “During 2021 and 2022, we saw a definite increase in fleet managers looking to upskill to meet current and future fleet challenges such as electrification, so we increased our potential capacity for places this year by 85% – a decision which has been vindicated by a dramatic increase in training days and also delegates, which is very pleasing to see.
“Additionally, we decided at the end of last year to freeze our training fees, given the pressure currently being placed on personal and business finances, which has also turned out to be very much the right choice. Good training should be attainable, in our opinion.
“Last year, we delivered 161 training days in total and this year, we have already sold 190, meaning that we could be close to 300 by the end of 2023. It just shows how much interest exists across the fleet industry in this kind of upskilling.”
Hollick said that the AFP Fleet Academy, although an evolution of training delivered by predecessor organisation the Institute of Car Fleet Management, remained a relatively new endeavour, and awareness of the courses it provided was increasing all the time.
He said: “Given the progress made by the Fleet Academy since its launch in 2021, it seems to us that there is potentially a huge amount of untapped interest in training across the fleet sector that will be realised as more people learn about the services we deliver.
“Also, satisfaction is high, with our courses scoring 4.9 out of 5.0 when measured on the likelihood of recommending the course, and trainer knowledge and guidance.”
