Member Article

Training tomorrow’s workforce

Growing energy and process industry specialist, the px group, has stepped up its commitment to training – employing more apprentices than at any time since being established in 2002.

The Stockton based business has six apprentices in place, with four more due to join in 2016. And with North East Apprenticeship Champion George Ritchie recently linking up with the group as an associate director, investment in the workforce of tomorrow has taken on an even higher priority.

The company recently staged an apprentice day for its young recruits – who work in various parts of the UK – to meet each other and senior people within the business to find out more about opportunities to progress within px.

Jess Pinder, 18, from Grimsby gave up the chance of a career in dance to work at the Stallingborough Power Plant and take a process technology apprenticeship while Alex Williams, 19, from Neath always knew engineering was her goal and is working at the Port Talbot Biomass Power Plant, studying for a mechanical maintenance engineering apprenticeship.

Teesside based trainees are Lottie Barnes, 19, from Hutton Rudby; Charlotte Murray, 18, from Kirklevington and Dan Sharp, 17, from Billingham.

Lottie works in the finance department at the company’s administrative offices on Teesdale Business Park. She is working towards an accounting qualification and has ambitions to join the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Charlotte works in the energy trading arm of the business – E24 – which has tens of millions of pounds worth of transactions taking place each month and is engaged on a business administration apprenticeship.

Dan Sharp is currently studying full time with TTE training group for a BTEC in engineering to become an instrument technician. He will start work at the Teesside Gas Processing Plant in 2017.

Finally, Alex Ogden, 17, from Manchester, who works at the Bramhall Fuel Storage Terminal is working towards a processing industry operations apprenticeship.

After meeting and talking with the apprentices, Ian Clifford, Chie Executive with the px group, said: “Apprentices are the future of our business and so we want them to feel part of the team and understand the opportunities that are available to them. Staging a special apprentices day and bringing them all together provided the perfect opportunity to do that.”

The px group has 13 years’ experience of managing high hazard facilities and operates 11 sites around the UK. These include gas processing, fossil fuel and renewable power generation plants and fuel storage depots. As a fully integrated energy infrastructure solutions business it currently employs 300 people, also providing energy trading and engineering consultancy services.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Dobbie .