April 2010
SPED in the UK & Eire
Review Training day planned near London
Following the success of the Review Day in Calgary, SPED UK is stepping up its efforts to launch via this means in the so far flat UK market. We are having a Review Day on June 19th, to be held just north of London.
I renew my appeal to US and Canadian corporate members to mention their involvement with SPED to those UK colleagues who they know. We need all the help we can get, to get this valuable but unknown qualification launched in the UK. It is certainly a key initiative for us.
UK Training Boards and SPED
I talked in the last Newsletter of the Government training levy placed upon UK Engineering Construction Companies. This levy was being used to develop a Piping Training Course for use in the UK. It would be free to members but the member company would have to provide the trainer.
I have queried many of my contacts who I know were involved with the training programme development. Many contacts have moved or been moved on. So no information from those sources. I made a close review of the website and can find no mention of this course, which was a flagship project.
If it has gone under it is a major blow to the ECITB (Engineering Construction Industries Training Board). It is also reduced competition for us, but a measure just how little interest there is in the training of pipers in the UK.
UK Process Industry News
Carbon Capture continues to get Government support for a retrofit on an old coal fired power station.
Oil & Gas UK is a UK trade association. It is promoting just how strong the domestic UK energy market is and how dependent it is on domestic suppliers, who earned 8bn in 2008. The industry as whole employs 450,000 highly skilled people. Norway is the principle UK gas supplier with very little coming from Russia.
Norman Harris
Norman.harris@20cc.co.uk