Apprenticeship Engineering Training in East Anglia

The East Anglian Group for Industrial Training (EAGIT) is an iconic name in Norfolk amongst engineering professionals.  It was well known for training engineering apprentices to the skilled level they would need to enter the industry and to provide the industry with an ongoing supply of quality skilled engineers.

Unfortunately, EAGIT was to close its doors in 2014 as finance and industry-wide challenges made it no longer viable to operate.  This resulted in a significant gap in the region for aspiring engineers looking for training and for businesses to access the staff they required.

In 2019, Norfolk based couple, Wayne and Louisa Stannett, with their passion for engineering training, spotted the gap and decided to revive the EAGIT name and mission, ultimately creating REAGIT - The Revamped East Anglian Group for Industrial Training.

It took time to find a suitable site but in 2022 they acquired the lease to the 20,000 square foot upper floor of the former ATB Lawrence Scott site in Norwich. The building has a rich history in the world of engineering and tells a story of generations of engineers who have worked within its walls.  At one end, a memorial remembers the engineers working there during the second world war and of those sent to the front who never returned.  More poignant still is that the building actually once housed an apprenticeship school, making it even more exciting for Wayne and Louisa to breathe life back into it with the next generation of apprentice engineers.

Over the following year, they undertook extensive renovations, repairing the floors and ceiling, constructing partition walls, welding bays, and electrical training booths, as well as setting up two classrooms and a spacious office space, all accomplished with the help of their talented and dedicated team. In May 2023, Swarm officially partnered with REAGIT to provide valuable regional engineering apprenticeships. By September 2023, the first cohort of engineering apprentices began their training on-site, marking an exciting new chapter for both organisations. Since then, Wayne and Louisa have collaborated closely with the leaders at Swarm to create a new division known as Swarm REAGIT, which now offers six diverse engineering-based apprenticeships throughout the region.