Train-maker Bombardier has resumed its push to recruit hundreds more staff to work at its Derby factory.
Towards the end of last year, the Litchurch Lane firm announced it would be taking on 400 extra staff as it looked to ramp up production on a number of major contracts in 2020.
But the recruitment drive was put on ice following the coronavirus lockdown in March.
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During the lockdown, the firm furloughed some of its staff, but after implementing a number of measures was soon able to resume production.
Today, production at Litchurch Lane is back to full strength, with all six of its lines busy fulfilling orders for Greater Anglia, South Western Railway and West Midlands Trains.
All furloughed staff have returned to work and during the lockdown, via recruitment firm Shorterm, the train-maker managed to add 100 extra staff to its ranks.
Bombardier said that a further 100 new recruits will join the firm this month, while another 100 set to join in August.
The company is now looking to add even more workers following what it describes as “productive discussions” with its customers and the Government regarding mitigating the impact of Covid-19 on its delivery schedules.
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Looking further ahead, Bombardier is also hopeful of adding to its order book. As well as the current orders, it has submitted a bid with Hitachi to build trains for HS2. Other bids in the pipeline this year include a contract to supply new trains to Irish Rail.
Matt Byrne, president of Bombardier Transportation (海角视频 and Ireland), said: “This year was always going to be busy with big orders for Greater Anglia, South Western Railway and West Midlands Trains, but Covid-19 has created a new set of challenges. including a three-week pause in production at Litchurch Lane in March/April.
“The safe restart of operations has gone well and we have held productive discussions with our customers and with the Government on mitigating the ongoing impact of the virus on our production and delivery.
“This is allowing us to resume the recruitment we had always planned to support our production ramp-up.
“We expect these positive discussions to continue and can now look forward to another 100 frontline staff joining us is August.”
Bombardier is welcoming applications from people of all backgrounds, in terms of age, level of experience and gender.
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It said that bespoke training would be provided to people with a basic mechanical knowledge and experience of using hand tools who want to gain entry into the industry.
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The firm also said it was looking for experienced workers with knowledge of the rolling stock sector, including welders, electrical testers and vehicle builders.
Anyone interested should e-mail jobs@shortermgroup.com.