Green skills training facility Catch’s Skills and Apprenticeships Centre has been opened by local MPs Melanie Onn and Martin Vickers.
The £1.5m centre at Stallingborough is intended to bridge the skills gap in the Humber’s transition to green energy. Funding has come from industrial sponsors in the region, including Viking CCS members Phillips 66 Limited, Harbour Energy, Drax and ABP together with Air Products, Uniper, the ECITB and Humber Freeport.
The expanded centre means membership organisation Catch will more than double its capacity from 100 to about 220 apprentices and triple its welding and grinding bay capacity to 80 bays – targeting a key skills gap. Catch now has plans to develop a £60m National Net Zero Training Centre by 2029 that will deliver courses to 1,000 learners a year, priming them for areas such as carbon capture and storage, gigafactories, hydrogen and green steel.
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Ms Onn, MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, said: “Investment in green initiatives like this is vital as we work to grow North East Lincolnshire’s economy. It’s great to see so many businesses putting funding into our area, and I look forward to seeing how things progress as the Humber Skills Plan unfolds. This new facility is really exciting in particular. It will provide so many new opportunities for young people across the region, helping to get more of them into STEM careers.”
David Talbot, Catch CEO, said: “To advance the decarbonisation journey, we urgently need more pipefitters, platers, welders, and fabricators. No single company can do this alone, which is why collaboration has been key in addressing the ever growing skills gap in these crucial trades. And this collaboration is unprecedented; no other UK cluster has come together to narrow the industrial skills gap so proactively. Catch has always been at the forefront of industrial skills development, and this is just the beginning.”
Paul Fursey, lead executive UK and Humber refinery general manager, said: “To build the infrastructure required to deliver net zero for the UK, we need to invest in creating the skilled workforce of tomorrow. Catch’s new welding and fabrication training centre will become a hub of excellence, demonstrating how the UK can increase the knowledge and skills needed to deliver the net zero targets. Through support from Phillips 66 Limited and our fellow delivery sponsors, local industry support, and local schools and colleges, we believe we can make a powerful difference to inspire the next generation of welders, pipefitters, mechanical fitters, platers, scaffolders and much more.”
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber