New £5.5m training centre welcomes first intake of young engineers
INVESTMENT: HETA business development executive Mick Wigglesworth, right, with Dean Miles of SSE in the fabrication and welding workshop at the new centre
By Simon Bristow
An engineering training provider launched in Hull more than 50 years ago has unveiled a new £5.5m training centre which today will kick-start the engineering careers of more than 60 young learners.
The new arrivals at the building at Pioneer Business Park in Stallingborough are among 250 taking up courses at three sites owned and operated by Humberside Engineering and Training Association (HETA).
It adds up to a record intake for the company which impressed employers who were given a sneak preview of the new facility. Experienced engineers and HR professionals from local businesses and national companies praised the location, the facilities and the ongoing employer-first ethos of a business which was set up in 1967 in Alfred Street, off Hessle Road.
Welcoming around 80 business representatives to the centre, Iain Elliott, HETA’s chief executive, urged them to continue to work in partnership.
‘WE’VE TRANSFORMED OUR REAL ESTATE ACROSS THE HUMBER REGION’: Iain Elliott, HETA chief executive
He said: “We all felt it was really important that the people who are offered first sight of the new facility should be the employer base because it’s about you, the learners that you are going to take on and the staff that you want to upskill.”
The new centre is purpose-built and provides facilities for electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and fabrication and welding, with an IT suite, classrooms and meeting rooms.
It sits at the heart of North East Lincolnshire Council’s £42m South Humber Industrial Investment Programme (SHIIP) area, which is being promoted as a major industrial development opportunity.
The strength of HETA’s links with employers is underlined by the fact that around 200 of the young people starting at Stallingborough, Foxhills in Scunthorpe and the company’s headquarters in Hull have already secured jobs.
Capacity at Stallingborough will increase as more businesses move into the area, and HETA staff took the opportunity of the open day to quiz visitors about current and expected training needs.
‘IT’S IMPORTANT TO GIVE THEM THE BEST WORKING ENVIRONMENT’: HETA business development executive Mick Wigglesworth with Holly Barker (centre) and Zoe Pell of EFAB in the mechanical engineering workshop
Iain said: “This is the culmination of about nine years of thought, discussion and planning – and more than a few sleepless nights. We couldn’t have picked a worse time to build it. We exited Covid, the war started in Ukraine, material costs were soaring and supply of materials and labour were an issue. But we were only two weeks late and we were on budget.”
The total investment is £5.5m, broken down into a build cost of about £4.2m with land purchase, fees and VAT making up the rest. Added to the cost of the new Hull centre, HETA has invested £10m since 2018 in upgrading its property and facilities. The Foxhills centre opened in 2014.
Iain added: “What we have now done with this last piece of the jigsaw is transform HETA’s real estate across the Humber region. We have a set of training centres that provide the best learning and working environment for young people, people coming in to do adult courses and for our own staff. It’s important to give them the best working environment.
“It’s a £5.5m investment in the future of engineering training in North East Lincolnshire and beyond. It’s for those people who are coming out of school and want to take engineering as a career and for employers who need that skilled labour coming through. We know young people are now seeing apprenticeships and engineering and other technical trades as a viable alternative to university.”