Process industries to receive skills boost

Backed by a multi-million pound government-training budget and £1m from the process industry, the National Skills Academy Process Industries will engage with companies and educational providers to deliver a network of skills for the process industries.

Recruiting and retaining people with the right skills needed to work in cleanroom environments is one area that the Academy aims to address. And, according to Craig Crowther, chief executive of the National Skills academy Process Industries, innovative ways of delivering this training have been considered.

Speaking to Cleanroom Technology, he said: "The radical idea of creating a clean room training facility on the back of an articulated wagon, taking it around the country and conducting training from there, has been floated about in the past."

He also pointed to the creation of apprenticeship programmes designed to equip school leavers with core skills to become laboratory technicians.

"Our whole delivery model is based on having an established centre at Teesside University,’ he said. ‘Our programmes will be delivered through a network of providers, and we will look for centres of excellence – be it in pharmaceuticals, in chemicals or in polymers right throughout the UK to achieve this."

The process industry employs over 420,000 people in the UK and contributes £23bn in added value to the economy. The Academy is committed to training 1,000 people in its first year of operation.

Crowther said: "The composition of this sector has changed greatly in the last 20 years, and 70% of its future workforce is currently in employment. Hence we need to accredit their existing skills, and upskill to even higher standards, whilst also broadening the range of new entrants to the sector."

The Academy's programmes will be rolled out from June this year with a further launch planned for the south of the country in 2009.

The launch received the backing of Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills John Denham MP and Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Skills David Lammy MP, and included words of support from entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne who is a panellist on Dragon’s Den.

Speaking at the event held at Central Hall, Westminster, Lammy said: "When we are talking about the process industries we are talking about a fundamental sector in our economy. This sector does in invest in skills training; it invested £800m in 2006, and we want to value that work and accredit it. We also need to tie into schools and promote the opportunities that exist in this sector, and increase the level of apprenticeships so more young people enter this industry in the next decade."

Industry support has come from a series of companies including Aescia Pharmaceuticals, The Chemical Industries Association and Avecia Biologics and Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals.

The Academy moves into new premises at the University of Teesside on Monday (4 February).