Member Article

£96k funding for North East tissue manufacturer

A North East tissue manufacturer is continuing to invest in the future of its workforce after seeking support from Arch, The Northumberland Development Company and their Northumberland Business Growth Programme.

SCA in Prudhoe, which manufactures the popular ‘Velvet’ brand of family toilet tissue, has extended its award winning apprenticeship scheme after securing £96,000 in funding from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF).

The money has enabled SCA to recruit an additional ten first year manufacturing apprentices aged between 16 and 23 from across Tyne & Wear and Northumberland.

The new recruits take the number of apprentices currently earning and learning with SCA to 41. This is the company’s largest apprentice cohort to date, with all the trainees at various stages in SCA’s four year apprenticeship scheme.

Ian Callender, training officer at SCA, explains: “There is a skills shortage in the North East, making vacancies in mechanical and electrical engineering difficult to fill. We also have a high percentage of the workforce nearing retirement.

“In a highly competitive industry like ours with a very experienced workforce, apprentices are vital in enabling us to develop the skills and talent required to take on these roles.

“Our focus is both personal and professional development with genuine career progression. Indeed, many of our lead operators on site today began their careers through the apprenticeship scheme.

“At SCA we aren’t just seeking to fill vacancies, we take a long-term approach to growing, inspiring and training the business and engineering leaders of tomorrow. With help from Arch and the Regional Growth Fund we’ve secured 50 per cent of the funding required to increase the apprenticeship scheme at Prudhoe Mill and develop more young talent in the region.”

SCA has been running its apprenticeship programme since 2004, providing paid education and training to over 100 apprentices in either an operational or technical role, with the vast majority now employed on site.

Last year the company was named ‘Large Employer of the Year’ at the North East National Apprenticeship Awards 2014 and a Top 100 Apprenticeship Employer in the UK.

Cllr Dave Ledger, Arch chair and deputy leader of Northumberland County Council, said: “SCA’s dedicated commitment to ensuring engineering skills are kept alive is great news.

“They have a proud tradition of training young engineers and it has paid dividends for those apprentices who have the skills to forge interesting and highly skilled careers with the business and beyond.”

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