How Paralloy Group supports staff to grow and progress
ENGINEERING
Progression – some of Paralloy Group’ s key personnel( from left), Ian Grimes, Tom King, Sarah Gaw, Stephen Green and Jonathan Murray.
INVESTING IN THE
FUTURE
WORDS: DAVE ROBSON PICTURE: TOM BANKS
How Paralloy Group supports staff to grow and progress
Paralloy Group is proud of its well-established apprenticeship programme – and equally proud of the long-term career pathways it offers to people at every stage of their working lives.
Through clearly defined internal progression maps and a supportive working environment, the steel and nickel alloy specialist actively encourages employees to build lasting careers within the business. With more than 400 people across its Billingham and Middlesbrough sites, Paralloy is committed to helping its workforce develop, progress and reach their full potential.
That commitment is reflected in ongoing investment in skills development, whether through structured on-the-job training, professional qualifications, leadership development or higher education. Employees are supported to grow in a way that aligns both with their ambitions and the needs of the business.
One such example is Stephen Green, who joined Paralloy 14 years ago as a trainee welding engineer, following in the footsteps of his father, Trevor, a longserving Paralloy plater. Over the years, Stephen has progressed through Paralloy’ s technical development pathways, developing his technical administration expertise, completing an Open University bachelor’ s degree and qualifying as a welding engineer.
Stephen is now studying for his European / International Welding Engineer status( EWE / IWE), fully supported and funded by Paralloy.
Stephen says:“ After starting out on the shop floor and moving into the welding technical department, I’ m incredibly proud of what I’ ve achieved. The support and encouragement I’ ve received throughout my studies has been outstanding, and I’ m excited to continue developing my skills and contributing to the team.”
A similar journey can be seen in HR advisor Sarah Gaw, who joined Paralloy three years ago after initially considering a career in the RAF. Since then, Sarah has progressed through Paralloy’ s leadership development framework, achieving a Level 3 Team Leader qualification and completing her Level 7 CIPD accreditation over two years.
With those qualifications in place, Sarah is now being supported to progress into more leadership roles within the company.
HR director UK Ian Grimes says this type of internal progression is central to Paralloy’ s people strategy.
“ We’ ve invested heavily in our apprenticeship structure, but just as importantly, we’ ve developed clear, multitier progression routes for our existing employees,” he says.
“ These pathways encourage people to continue building their skills over time, giving them visibility of where they can go within the business and how to get there. The result is a more capable, flexible and engaged workforce.”
Ian points to welder fabricator Joe Dale as another example, with Paralloy supporting him through his HNC to deepen his technical knowledge and broaden his career options within the company.
“ For us, progression is about more than funding courses and ticking boxes,” Ian adds.“ It’ s about creating the right environment, one where people feel supported by their managers, mentors and teams. That culture of encouragement is what enables people to succeed.”
Whether it’ s role-specific training or advanced qualifications such as a master’ s degree or a PhD, Paralloy considers any development opportunity that adds value to both the individual and the business as a positive investment.
“ If it supports our people and strengthens the company, we commit resources to it. It’ s about genuine collaboration, long-term development and building careers that grow alongside Paralloy.”
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