Pentland Alliance Backs Apprentice Skills Project For Caithness

15th February 2010

Pentland Alliance, the joint venture comprising AMEC, CH2M HILL and UKAEA/Babcock, is to sponsor an important apprentice skills programme for the Caithness region in the north of Scotland. The sponsorship was announced on Thursday, February 11th in Manchester at the National Skills Academy for Nuclear/Cogent Annual Skills Awards Dinner.

The Pentland Alliance-backed skills programme will enable local apprentices to gain additional skills and experience within the region, help them achieve more transferable skills, which in the longer-term will assist them to work in the new emerging energy sectors in the area.

Jean Llewelyn, Chief Executive of the National Skills Academy for Nuclear said: "We are all aware of the importance of maintaining a skills base during the decommissioning of a nuclear site and the impact decommissioning can have on a local business community. I am therefore delighted that Pentland Alliance has agreed to a skills project in Caithness and North Sutherland. We have already seen how this area produces high quality apprentices and the aim of this project is to ensure that this continues and supports the socio-economic regeneration of the area by ensuring individuals have the appropriate skills for their future."

A cheque of £5000 to kick-off the skills project was presented at the National Skills Academy for Nuclear/Cogent Annual Skills Awards Dinner to Nathan Ross Mackay, the 2010 Scottish Nuclear Apprentice of the Year, by Jonathan Baker, a director of Pentland Alliance. Nathan is employed by Rolls-Royce.

Jonathan Baker said: "Pentland Alliance recognises the importance of investing in skills and training for today's nuclear industry and importantly in the longer-term as the decommissioning of Dounreay and other sites in the UK are completed. We are delighted to support the Skills Academy and look forward to working with Ken Nicol, the Scottish Regional Manager, and the employers steering group for the North of Scotland to implement this important project."

Pictured left to right are: Jean Llewellyn, Jonathan Baker, Nathan Ross Mackay

For the past four years, the companies that make up Pentland Alliance (AMEC, CH2M HILL and UKAEA/Babcock) have managed the site decommissioning programme at Dounreay. This work has been carried out by DSRL Ltd, on behalf of the NDA, who is responsible for overseeing the decommissioning and clean-up of Dounreay. www.pentlandalliance.co.uk

The National Skills Academy for Nuclear is an employer-led organisation, created to address the key skills and training challenges facing the nuclear industry.
www.nuclear.nsacademy.co.uk