FORCES RE-ENGINEERED

THE garage with a difference

The company’s aim (www.forcesreengineered.com) is to give forces veterans the chance of apprenticeships .

When you enter the premises of Forces Re-Engineered in Andover, you wonder what is different. They service and repair cars and motorcycles as any other garage. The difference is made by the owner and founder, Stephan West, of the non-profit making community interest company.

People train as Fully qualified vehicle technicians whilst helping to deal with their suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and adjust back into civilian life. A chance they would otherwise have been denied, since the government subsidises apprenticeships only up to the age of twenty-three, making companies unwilling to offer the former.

The garage’s specialism is the Volkswagen Group. Stephan did his apprenticeship and Master Technician with Volkswagen in Germany, although the workshop services and repairs all makes of cars.

Forces Re-Engineered currently employ one full time apprentice (already successfully entering his second year) and three part-time apprentices. The premises allow the apprentices to have time out in a specially designed rest room. They have the full support from the local College, as well as from Combat Stress.

As mentioned before Forces Re-Engineered is a non-profit making community interest company (C.I.C., reg.no.: 1051064). This takes them out of the realm of full charity status and therefore relying entirely on their business to successfully fulfil their aim!

More business means more apprenticeships being offered, more equipment affordable, as well as courses for the apprentices and more qualified staff to help instruct the former.