“Our new 3M Skills Development Centre at MIRA Tech Park gives us the opportunity to provide industry professionals in the region with the resources needed to upskill their talents,” said Dave Gunderson, President of 3M’s Automotive Aftermarket Division.
“As automotive refinishing skills grow more complex and specialised, training solutions will be invaluable for technicians who are currently in or are looking to enter the profession. Nurturing our talent will be key to tackling the skills shortage currently impacting our industry.”
“We are thrilled to open the 3M customer centre at MIRA Technology Park – a purpose-built space where we can showcase abrasive systems demonstrations, provide hands-on testing of our abrasive solutions, and teach customers how to reduce total cost in real world applications,” said Alejandro Martinez, President of 3M’s Abrasives Systems Division.
"The experience at this facility will serve as a unique and innovative learning hub for our customers and channel partners where we can help them transform the way work gets done.”
A rapidly evolving collision repair industry has led to innovative and sophisticated vehicles that require increasingly complex repairs. The need for qualified collision repair technicians to meet this demand is significant, yet the industry is faced with a critical skills shortage.
A recent survey from Thatcham Research found that over 70 per cent of repair and salvage professionals believe the widening skills gap is a growing challenge that requires industry-wide action, while the Institute of the Motor Industry projects a shortfall of over 44,000 skilled technicians by 2035. A deep foundation of expertise, rooted in hands-on teaching and training, is critical for shops to adapt.
The new Skills Development Centre at MIRA Tech Park expands upon 3M’s commitment to investing in training for skilled trades, following the opening of the 3M Skills Development Centre in North America in 2023.
The centre’s location in the 85-acre MIRA Technology Park, one of Europe’s leading automotive and mobility innovation hubs, makes it a convenient location for 3M customers as well as top industry OEMs such as Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover and Toyota.
The facility will provide hands-on training courses that cover core aspects across the vehicle repair process. The facility’s training and education opportunities will include a wide range of industrial abrasives processes, from metal fabrication to automation and fine surface finishing.
Pilot courses are due to commence in the second half of 2026. Leading instruction at the centre will be a staff of seasoned experts across 3M’s Automotive Aftermarket Division (AAD) and Abrasive System Division (ASD), who bring decades of combined industry experience and expertise. The centre’s training courses will address a variety of valuable topics for channel partners and end-user customers.
Innovative training resources at the centre include a dedicated spray booth, paint mixing stations, metal fabrication and fine surface finishing areas, and acoustically insulated grinding stations with dust extraction capability.
The centre also features office space for the resident technical teams as well as a large-capacity, classroom style space and several smaller conference rooms, all of which are equipped with audiovisual connectivity.
Participants can learn management techniques to make their repair shop operations more profitable, including the use of the 3M™ RepairStack™ inventory management and billing system. Approximately 50 people may train at the facility at a given time.
