Altrad’s Mark Poole has been appointed Chair of the ECITB Wales Regional Forum and a Council Member after approval by the Board of the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB).
Mark, who is Learning and Competence Manager at Altrad, is already a member of the ECITB’s CCNSG Committee and also spent eight years with the industry-led skills body in three different roles between 1998 and 2006.
More recently, Mark has played an instrumental role in creating development pathways at one of the largest employers in the engineering construction industry (ECI), having joined Altrad in 2020.
For example, Mark put in place a supervisory management development pathway for Altrad. He also played a leading role in helping trial and introduce the ECITB’s Work Ready Programme, with Altrad becoming a partner in several locations across the UK to create employment opportunities for new entrants.
He said: “I feel proud and privileged to have been elected by ECITB contractors to represent their interests in Wales. I intend to do my utmost for them.”
Strong links to ECITB, training and Wales
Mark’s industry experience spans more than four decades. He started out as a 16-year-old mechanical fitter apprentice, while he achieved his first trainer Level 3 qualification in 1988.
Since the late 1980s, Mark’s career has been rooted in the world of training, including close links to Wales, where he co-founded the Cardiff-based charity TRACK 2000, which provided training for the socially disadvantaged.
During the 1990s, Mark held the role of Training and Enterprise Manager of the Vale of Glamorgan Council and was the vice-chair of the region’s Training Provider Association.
Mark joined the ECITB in 1998 as a Senior Development Advisor within the Product Development Team, where he developed the ECITB’s flagship Supervisory Management Training & Development (SMTD) programme.
He went on to become Head of Partnering and Funding, creating the UK-wide initiative ‘Ambition Energy – Engineering Construction’, and then Regional Operations Manager with responsibility for Wales, the Midlands, South West, South Coast, London Head Offices, East of England and Southern North Sea.
From 2006 to 2020, Mark was founding Managing Director of Phoenix Training Solutions, a leading training provider of the ECITB. During this time, Mark developed numerous ECITB national courses and assessment tests, such as IOSH Engineering Construction.
Mark was also a leading safety training consultant for the governments of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, whilst his company was a preferred training provider on Hinkley Point C (HPC) for IOSH Construction and ILM Nuclear Safety Culture training; both courses Mark had developed.
Now with Altrad, Mark has taken on operational training management for Altrad’s Wales and Southern region.
Pictured: Mark talking to Work Ready Programme learners in Hampshire earlier this year after handing out employment offer letters from Altrad
Mark added: “Whilst at the ECITB, I directly influenced regionalisation and the establishment of regional fora and chairs.
“Put simply, the ECITB has become part of my professional DNA since 1998 and I feel a sense of loyalty to the team it employs and contractor community it is there to serve.
“Having the experience from within the ECITB, externally as a leading training provider and now within the industry’s largest engineering services contractor, I will have a lot to bring to the table for the wider benefit of all within the region.”
Addressing skills needs in the regions
ECITB Chief Executive Andrew Hockey says the link to industry – through the ECITB’s Board, Council and regional fora – ensures the organisation fully understands the needs of employers in the ECI.
He said: “Our regional fora bring industry expertise to our work while helping us forge better connections in the ECI across the regions.
“Mark’s industry experience will be invaluable in identifying and addressing skills needs in Wales and driving our work forward in the region.”
Main picture: Mark Poole, centre, with the ECITB’s Head of Regional Operations Matt Knights and Sarah Hepworth, who is ECITB Relationship Manager for Wales.
