26 | Tees Business
NETA
40 years of
developing the
skills that count
Walk into NETA Training Group’s Lustrum facility in Stockton and
managing director Phil Blewitt says you might just be surprised.
T
he brand new training centre houses
its own 26-tonne Nordtank NTK
600/43 nearshore wind turbine nacelle,
which when operational had a capacity of
generating 600,000kW.
While he admits that getting it indoors
proved something of a logistical nightmare,
who better to solve the problem than NETA’s
staff of time-served engineers?
The nacelle is, of course, eye catching, but
for NETA and indeed the region, Phil says it
represents so much more.
It shows the Tees Valley training provider’s
commitment to emerging industries. In
preparing themselves to deliver basic
technical training for those working in the
offshore and onshore wind industry, it
positions NETA as a valuable supply chain
partner when it comes to securing the
region’s place at the forefront of this growing
sector.
“Within the last decade the UK has
become a world leader in the renewable
energy field, particularly in wind energy,”
says Phil. “The Tees Valley is in an excellent
position to service a large section of that
market.”
At NETA, he says, they want to ensure the
area has the capability to train and upskill our
workforce to capture this opportunity and
support the local economy.
After all, servicing the demands of the
Tees Valley’s employers and upskilling a local
workforce has been the organisation’s priority
for more than 40 years.
In fact, that was its whole reason for being
when NETA was launched as a charitable
training association in 1975.
Its scope may have grown since then to
a national and indeed international reach,
but Phil says: “Helping to deliver the local
strategic growth plans by supporting the
skills development of regional people and
building the capability and competitiveness
of Tees Valley businesses remains a core
value.”
For Phil and the team that means keeping
an eye on emerging sectors, while building
on existing strengths.
Taking the helm as managing director last
year Phil, a passionate Teessider himself, is
keen to spread the word that NETA is going
from strength to strength.
The launch of its £1.12m Lustrum facility
this year, with funding from the Tees Valley
Combined Authority, Stockton Riverside
College and NETA Training, is further
testament to the training group’s continued
commitment to the region.
As well as the nacelle and the
opportunities it brings for maintenance and
repair training, the new centre on Lustrum
Industrial Park also incorporates a DS-5 and
DS-20 drill simulator, for use in the training of
offshore drilling and well control, along with
NETA’s Mechanical Joint Integrity division.
A new electrical CompEx department
and AM2 electrical testing and re-skilling
workshop is also helping to equip the region
to meet the increase in demand in the
industrial and engineering sector to verify
and test employees’ skills, as well as offering
competence assurance services.
Excited to be able to provide the right
training opportunities to businesses, those
starting out in their careers and those looking
to retrain or upskill, Phil says: “It is about
giving people the right skills and knowledge
they need to both progress in their careers
and also support our local industry.”
He continues: “NETA was set up to service
the demands of industry, to help businesses
grow and develop, and that is what we have
equipped ourselves to do.”
Looking at future developments in the Tees
Valley, he comments: “We are once again
on the launch pad with NETA. With inward
investment coming into the area, we are in a
great position to work with those companies
to help them develop competent, skilled and
safe workers.
“In a transforming industrial landscape,
for us that means being able to deliver
the training to service new and emerging
industries, using latest technologies
alongside core traditional capabilities.”