Grimsby Apprentice Wins Award
ECITB announces Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Apprentice of the Year
Jack Browning (21), a Technica Ltd apprentice has come out tops in the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board’s (ECITB), Apprentice of the Year competition. Jack who is doing an apprenticeship in Instrumentation & Control Maintenance, has been selected by the ECITB as its Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Apprentice of the Year. Jack has now been put forward to ECITB’s National Apprentice of the Year competition, which will be announced at an awards ceremony in London in April.
Jack was nominated for the award by his employer Grimsby based Technica Ltd. “Jack demonstrates to clients his skills and interest in their projects,” said Mike Clarke, Technica Ltd. “We are very proud of Jack’s achievements so far and look forward to his continued development within the business to a fully competent technician. His Apprenticeship has given him a strong grounding within the electrical installation discipline, he certainly has the potential to progress to a highly skilled engineer in the future.”
“I feel very honoured to have been given this award and look forward to representing the Yorkshire and Humberside area at the awards dinner in April,” said Jack.
Adrian Wookey, ECITB Regional Account Manager, Yorkshire & Humberside said: “Jack is a great example of how an apprentice can benefit a business. He is obviously very well valued by his employer and his work team and is inspiring to his fellow apprentices. Technica are confident in his ability and are proud to assign challenging tasks to him.”
“The engineering construction industry is in a position to be able to offer exciting and well paid careers to young people. Our latest manpower forecasts predict a 30 per cent growth over the next ten years with 60,000 more skilled workers needed across all our sectors. It is vital to the future of engineering construction in this country that we raise awareness of the industry and the available careers, with young people” said ECITB’s Regional Account Manager.
AN ECITB apprenticeships are available in 15 different disciplines: – Design & Draughting; Electrical Maintenance; Instrumentation & Control Maintenance; Electrical Installation; Mechanical Maintenance; Mechanical Fitting; Instrument Pipefitting (Small Bore Tubing); Non Destructive Testing; Plating; Pipefitting; Steel Erecting; Project Control; Welding; and Moving Loads.
The career opportunities are numerous. There are currently some 100,000 UK workers in the engineering construction industry in more than 170 different roles. There are good career prospects for all these roles and salaries compare very favourably with other industries.
For example, the minimum starting salary, once a young person has qualified as an electrician or welder is between £23- £28K while offshore workers such as riggers can command salaries of between £28- 30K. Starting salaries for engineers, including design, project, welding, electrical, mechanical and instrumentation are between £30-£40K. These figures don’t include career progression and don’t even include overtime.
“An ECITB sponsored apprenticeship is the best start in the business you can have,” said Adrian Wookey. “Our apprenticeships last between three and four years and from the start, the apprentice is employed by one of our companies. In addition, the apprenticeships have been developed in consultation with our industry’s employers, which means the company the apprentice is training with, knows they need an employee with the skills the young person is learning.”
The next generation of engineering construction workers will play a key role in shaping the future world. Currently, this skilled workforce are working in the nuclear industry; they are also at the forefront in developing renewable energy resources and have played a key role in oil and gas production in the North Sea. Engineering construction workers can also be found in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry where they have designed, constructed and maintained manufacturing plants. In fact there is very little in this modern world that doesn’t rely on the skills and imaginations of engineering construction workers.
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Notes to editors:
About the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board
1. The ECITB is the statutory and charitable body set up to secure engineering construction skills now and for the future. It has delivered training successfully to over one million learners over 20 years, and is led and funded by employers from the industry, ensuring the services are relevant and fit for purpose
2. The ECITB provides professional advice, information, skills development and qualifications to help individuals in engineering construction and anyone interested in a career in the industry to succeed. A dedicated website has been set up to provide more detailed information http://careers.ecitb.org.uk/
3. The ECITB sets a range of occupational and training standards, awards industry specific qualifications and invests £20 million each year in support of apprentices and adult learners across a range of skills. From entry level craft and technician programmes through to advanced engineering project management skills. In 2011, 65,000 people were supported through the ECITB’s range of approved programmes delivered by a network of over 200 approved providers.
4.The ECITB strategy is built on three objectives, these are to attract, qualify and develop talented people for the industry. The ECITB operating processes that secure the depth, breadth and quality of service are: employer engagement, identification of skills needs and priorities, stakeholder and provider engagement, delivery and continuous improvement. The ECITB provides support to employers, their employees and apprentices to design, build, maintain and decommission nuclear, power, pharmaceutical, renewables, chemicals, food, water, oil & gas facilities and other processes.
Contact: Ulrika Meegolla, Communications Officer
01923 402 118 ulrika.meegolla@ecitb.org.uk
A further article can be found at the following link.
For more information visit www.ecitb.org.uk
