A new welder training centre is set to be launched in East Anglia – if the Sizewell C nuclear power plant gets the go-ahead.
Weldability Sif has announced that it will open a new centre of excellence for welding and is exploring sites in Suffolk, Norfolk and other areas around the region.
The Weldability Sif Foundation has supported more than 40 institutions across the UK in setting up or expanding provision for welder training.
MORE – Companies seek nuclear contracts as Sizewell C waits for go-aheadThe aim of the East Anglian centre will be to upskill and train a new generation of British welders and provide new career opportunities for young people in Suffolk to work on Sizewell C and other projects in the region.
Weldability Sif has successfully launched a centre of excellence at Bridgwater and Taunton college in Somerset to support the Hinkley Point C project and wants to do the same in the East of England if Sizewell C proceeds.
It has already installed a series of welding simulators at East Coast college in Lowestoft to give students a chance to see what a career in the trade would entail.
Weldability Sif managing director Gareth Hawkins said: “Businesses are looking around the world for trained and qualified workers to undertake welding projects. Highly-skilled welders are in short supply and through the Sizewell C project we want to make sure there is a centre of excellence in place to train local people to take up these jobs and to learn a new sought-after trade.”
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