About Skills for Energy

Blair Ainslie, Chair of the partnership board sees the region's energy industry as a major employer and that will continue to be for the long-term whether in oil and gas, renewable energy or the nuclear sector.

The partnership's principal areas of focus are on sector attraction and recruitment; developing competence and existing skills; and developing appropriate apprenticeship and vocational training opportunities.

Major successes for Skills for Energy include the Towards 2010 training fund which has seen funding made available from the East of England Development Agency and European Social Fund invested in over 400 companies, benefiting over 1100 individuals, and over £1m being invested in training activities over the 18 months that the programme has been running.

The High Energy Schools Challenge has been a great success engaging local schools in an on-air radio challenge with presentations and question rounds on everything from pop-culture to geosciences and challenging industry info.

Celia Mackie, seconded from national Government where she worked on skills issues, was appointed programme director in May 2007. The continued success of the region's energy industry depends on its ability to enthuse the people who were the future of the industry, whilst providing the best environment to retain and develop the existing workforce.