ENERGY industry services firm 3sun Group has said it is to take on the entire 2011 intake of an engineering training course in the east of England.
3sun will take on the 10 individuals, aged 16 to 29, on Norwich-based EAGIT’s Engineering Construction Industry Training Board apprenticeship course, enabling it to run for another year.
The new recruits will spend the next two years undertaking the course, with five members of the group focusing on electrical and mechanical aspects and five specialising in instrumentation and controls.
They will be deployed within all three of the group’s divisions, primarily working in Aberdeen and Yarmouth, where the firm is based.
Operations director Stuart Brand said: “Everyone in the Great Yarmouth and Aberdeen areas are fishing in the same pond for engineers and our clients are telling us they expect their resource requirements to double over the next year.
“It is important that companies are looking ahead and not only developing existing staff, but also investing in taking on new recruits and training them to develop the skills needed for the future.
“With increasing demand for skilled people to fill roles in the oil and gas sector, as well as in renewables and decommissioning, we fully appreciate that the sustainability of 3sun’s workforce relies on ensuring that experienced members of the team impart their knowledge on to those who will one day be doing these jobs.”
3sun provides products and services to the energy industry in the UK and internationally and has in previous years taken on two or three apprentices.
In total it employs about 175 people, working in instrumentation and control products and services, and in installation and maintenance services for wind turbines at Oban-based Dawson Energy, part of the 3sun group.
It also recently launched a new division, 3sun Inspection Services, which offers a full range of equipment inspection and testing services for the oil and gas and renewables industries, and has a new office in Bergen.
EAGIT based on Hurricane way in Norwich has been training ECITB apprentices for more than 10 years.
