With the recent job losses in the Oil and Gas sector, many engineers have found themselves having to look for new arenas and new skills.
The career transition can seem sudden and rather daunting – just ask One Direction’s Zayn Malik – but now a new Training Academy is leading the way in upskilling and boosting job opportunities.
Prontoport, which has its HQ in Irvine and provides independent engineering support services within the renewable energy and oil and gas sector across the UK, has invested in a Training Academy centre of excellence.
Offering renewable industry-specific training courses, it is the first facility of its kind in the West of Scotland.
We met David Hatfield, Prontoport’s Operations Manager, to find out more about the thinking behind the facility.
“Although a multi-sector business, we’ve been primarily involved in the renewable sector for nearly 10 years now and, as more and more wind farms were built and technician numbers grew, so too did our costs – it got to the stage where we were spending close to £150,000 per year on mandatory training courses for our technicians,” David explains.
“So we took the decision last year to launch our own Training Academy to drive financial efficiencies and also enable us to holistically manage our technicians’ training requirements – all the while with the added advantage of expanding this offering externally to existing and new to the industry technicians.”
The Academy’s industry-experienced personnel provide renewable-specific courses – both new and refresher – but also courses for much wider engineering and construction sectors.
These include RUK/GWO Working at Height and Rescue, Fire Awareness, First Aid and Manual Handling.
So could this be instrumental in helping people move into the sector from other areas of engineering or to further existing careers?
“Absolutely, because of the uncertainty experienced in the Oil and Gas sector at the moment and, with what’s recently happened at Longannet, people are rightly concerned about their next move – and although wind farming is still relatively new compared to Oil and Gas, it’s one of the fastest growing sectors out there.
“We’ve seen individuals from these areas of business book their courses with us and are now back in stable positions with blue chip organisations such as Dong and Vestas, all because we’ve provided the required training.
“We see all sorts of people coming through our doors each week – some are existing technicians requiring refresh courses and others are looking to forge a new career in a growing market.”
The good news is there really are no prerequisites to gaining a career, for example, in the wind sector as a turbine technician; you don’t need to be mechanically or electrically trained as training is given incrementally on the job, although having an M&E background provides greater employment opportunities.
David adds:
“What you must have is an appetite for heights, a willingness to learn and an open mind, as you may be away from home for long periods of time depending on your shift rotation.”
If this sounds a bit like joining the flying trapeze act in a travelling circus, an integral part of the training is safety – the Academy is also an approved and accredited ECITB training centre, offering Working at Height, Confined Space Awareness low, medium and high risk, and the CCNSG Safety Passport.
“The job certifications that we provide for wind turbine technicians are vital,” says David.
“Without these and in simple terms, there is no job as they are mandatory but with these and if you are fortunate enough, you can work all over the world.”
David points out not so long ago SSE became the latest utility to warn of a looming engineering skills crisis and the need to bring in more apprentices.
“There is a real dearth of good technician numbers out in the field right now,” he says, “and with turbine numbers only ever going one way, now might be the right time to get your courses booked.”
Once in a career as a turbine technician, you could expect to earn anywhere from £35,000 per year onshore and up to £80,000 offshore – so the financial rewards are attractive.
The long-term aims of the Training Academy, because of its globally recognised accreditation, are to take Prontoport services to the European market and beyond.
Be prepared to aim that little bit higher through reskilling and you, too, could be widening your career horizons – and boosting your bank balance.
The views from your new office won’t be too bad either.
Find out more about Prontoport’s renewable and engineering training courses.