4,400 jobs lined up at oil plant
Oct 11 2007 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal
The reaction
Gillian Miller, regional skills director, Learning and Skills Council (LCS) North East, said: "The LSC welcomes the proposals announced today which, if given the go ahead, will bring much needed investment into the Tees Valley. We are committed to raising skill levels in the North East for the benefit of individuals, employers and the region’s economy. There is currently a shortage of qualified people entering the process and construction sectors and we have been working for some time with our partners to try and reverse this situation. We are working with employment bodies such as the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), the North East Process Industries Cluster (NEPIC), Cogent, the sector skills council for the process industry, and with training providers to ensure that the skills needs of the engineering and process industries are met now and in the future.
"We are currently working with Job Centre Plus to explore ways of getting long term unemployed people back into work in the process industry. We have also been working with Tees Valley Unlimited to develop new training programmes for the engineering and process sectors in the area. One of the keys to improving skills in these sectors is to encourage more young people into the sectors and link students with employers. The LSC, along with the Tees Valley Engineering Partnership and NEPIC, has been promoting the sectors in schools, though educational projects, to encourage young people to think about careers in engineering and the process industry in a bid to overcome prejudices and preconceptions.
"We have also been working with engineering providers to increase the number of apprenticeships in these sectors and through Train to Gain, we are up-skilling the existing workforce to ensure that the skills demands of the future are met."
George Rafferty, NOF Energy chief executive, said: "This is great news for the Tees Valley and the North-East. It's an endorsement of the skills and talent we have here in the region in the oil and gas industry. There also will be substantial spin-off opportunities in the supply chain, not only regionally but probably nationally, which will further boost employment. The North-East has got the skills, technology and companies to meet the needs of this massive project."
Dr Stan Higgins CEO of NEPIC said: "We are pleased that the SONHOE project is coming to fruition. The Cluster has been involved in this project from its inception along side Tees Valley Regeneration and other regional support agencies. NEPIC's members welcome SONHOE on board and will provide valuable supply chain support to the project. Teesside chemical companies have also indicated that on top of the SONHOE investment they are likely to invest a further £2 Billion in projects in order to take advantage of the new source of raw materials that will be provided by Sonhoe's initial investment. In other words this is likely to lead to substantial job increases in downstream industries."
