Several of the region’s leading businesses have partnered with Hull’s employer-led school to aid the provision of industry standard skills, helping create their future workforces.
Advanced Plastics Ltd and Shipham Valves have become major partners of Ron Dearing University Technical College (UTC), while Catch, Northern Powergrid, Ridings Consulting Engineers and Spectrum have become partners.
They join founding partners KCom, Reckitt, Siemens Gamesa, Smith & Nephew, Spencer and two dozen more additions at the expanding Kingston Square campus, first opened in 2017. Plans have reently been unveiled to take on the neighbouring former Central Fire Station, allowing the 600-capacity school to welcome 200 more pupils.
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Glenn Jensen, senior assistant principal and head of engineering at Ron Dearing UTC, said: “We’re delighted to welcome six new employer partners on board and continue to build on the success of our employer-led learning model of education.”
Companies help to develop and deliver employer-led projects, offering work experience and apprenticeships and leading the school’s careers information, advice and guidance programme. Major partners also play a key role in helping to develop the Ofsted outstanding-rated school’s unique employer-engaged curriculum.
Rob Anderson, joint managing director at Advanced Plastics Ltd, said: “Becoming a major partner presents us with an opportunity to develop our talent pipeline to feed our own technical solutions and what better way to do it than supporting the development of local young minds.”
Founded in 1992 and celebrating 30 years in business this year, it employs almost 250 people at its 65,000 sq ft manufacturing site at Sutton Fields in Hull, providing technical injection moulded products for blue chip clients across a range of market sectors. It has just l ed the merger with Protool, adding operations in Greater Manchester and Hampshire to the group.
Shipham Valves was founded in Hull in 1798 and is now based in Brough, employing 75 staff. It specialises in the design, development and manufacture of a range of valves used in global industries including onshore and offshore oil and gas, petrochemical and power generation.
The business is taking on four apprentices from Ron Dearing UTC in September and plans to organise hands-on programming sessions, work experience, further apprenticeships and industry standard projects for students to work on in the future.
Managing director Rob Moulds said: “We want to support Ron Dearing UTC to promote engineering and inspire students at the earliest possible stage, taking on apprentices and enabling them to have the right mindset and values we want to see as a business.”
Hessle-based Ridings Consulting Engineers specialises in building services engineering design solutions for refurbishment and new construction projects. Its 14-strong team works across the commercial, industrial, public and private sectors and is another welcoming apprentices.
Director Liam Beardshaw said: “We’ve already taken on two apprentices from Ron Dearing UTC and we’re taking on another one or two in September. The long-term goal is to help to shape our potential future workforce even further.”
It comes after four new governors were welcomed in KCom chief executive Tim Shaw, Groupe Atlantic chief operating officer Jason Speedy, Siemens Gamesa human resources partner Laura Botham and BDP Pitmans senior partner John Hutchinson.
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