Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) COO Andy Brown attended the opening ceremony of the new CATCH UK Welding and Pipefitting Hub in Stallingborough on the south Humber bank to see first-hand how ECITB investment has helped increase learning capacity. Training provider CATCH was awarded £300,000 of ECITB Regional Skills Hub funding to help upgrade its facilities as part of a joint venture with industry partners.
Here are Andy’s reflections from his speech at the event:
“The ECITB is an industry-led organisation that raises an industrial training levy. The levy grant system is primarily there to incentivise employers to train workers, but we are also investing in training provision and capacity building to address the skills shortage that we’re facing in this country,” he said.
“We use the levy to create pipelines of new entrants for industry that we sponsor and some of those learners are burning rods in the facility behind me as we speak.
“The £300,000 which we supported for the CATCH facility was the first of those investments and we have more of these in the pipeline around the country which we will be announcing soon.
“This build is a great example of collaboration both in terms of the funding partners that have come together to enable this to happen, but also the wider skills plan. What we see at CATCH is a statement of intent around working together as a region to really do something different.
“The asset owners around the region can buy into common pipelines of skills, common competency standards and can work with their contractors to accommodate these new entrants coming into industry. It’s about looking at the region as a whole to really build an eco-system of skills that can benefit everybody.”
Pictured: COO Andy Brown speaking with ECITB Work Ready Programme learners during a break from using the new welding facilities at CATCH.
Collaboration in action
In November 2023, the ECITB announced a £1 million investment over two years to boost training provider capacity and grow new entrant numbers in industrial cluster hot spots and other major ECI centres of activity at the heart of the UK’s decarbonisation agenda.
Our Regional Skills Hub funding addresses skills shortages by supporting projects focused on enhancing training and skills provision in these regions.
CATCH was the first to receive this grant funding. It welcomed local MPs Melanie Onn and Martin Vickers, along with partners from across the Humber region, pictured, to open the Welding and Pipefitting Hub at its Skills and Apprenticeships Centre.
The expansion was made possible by a £1.5 million funding investment from CATCH’s sponsors in the region, including Viking CCS members Phillips 66 Limited, Harbour Energy, DRAX and ABP. Plus Air Products and Uniper, alongside funding from the ECITB and Humber Freeport.
The opening represents a significant milestone in CATCH’s commitment to fostering the green skills needed for the energy transition whilst helping to deliver economic growth locally in the Humber, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire regions.
In collaboration with its industry partners, CATCH is poised to play a pivotal role in steering more young individuals towards STEM careers, as part of the broader Humber Skills Plan to increase training output tenfold by 2029.
This latest funding initiative has had a substantial impact on its facility:
- More than doubling the entry capacity, CATCH will increase its intake from 100 to approximately 220 apprentices.
- Tripling the welding and grinding bay capacity to 80 bays, which have been identified as critical skill gaps needed to power the UK’s energy transition.
- The facility has already welcomed new cohorts of apprentices and Work Ready Programme learners this September.
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.”
Graeme Davies, EVP CCS at Harbour Energy, added: “The UK’s net zero goals will only be realised if we have thousands of skilled workers, from welders and pipefitters to process engineers. CATCH’s Skills and Apprenticeships Centre is a fantastic opportunity to build a strong and prosperous workforce for the future and support leading projects such as Viking CCS.”
Paul Fursey, UK Lead Executive and General Manager Humber Refinery at Phillips 66 Limited, said: “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 net zero targets.”
Following this first phase of funding, CATCH has an ambitious expansion plan to develop a new £60 million National Net Zero Training Centre by 2029, aiming to deliver education to 1,000 learners a year, targeted at the skills needed by net zero projects.
Pictured: A Work Ready Programme learner using one of the new welding bays at the CATCH facility
Grants for engineering construction projects
The ECITB is keen to work with more clients, contractors and training providers to invest in growing the number of skilled workers needed for other major engineering construction projects.
Regional Skills Hubs funding of between £50,000 and £500,000 is available to projects that meet set criteria, including the need to match grant funding with investment from industry partners.
