With a new £14.7m building in development and 50th anniversary plans in the pipeline, it is a milestone year for Karl Johnson to be taking the reins at NETA Training.
He is the newly appointed director at the Teesside-based engineering training facility and as such is looking forward to leading the engineering training provider through what promises to be transformational changes ahead.
For NETA that means the delivery of the brand-new training centre in Thornaby, made possible, in part, by an investment of £4.5m in Thornaby Town Deal funding with the support of the Thornaby Town Deal Board, delivered in partnership with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.
But more widely Karl’s role is to ensure NETA is best placed to meet the training demands of the rapidly evolving industrial landscape.
Already quick off the starting blocks, he said: “Engineering and its surrounding skills are front and centre of Local Skills Improvement Plan priorities. As a training provider on the doorstep of major developments happening in the Tees Valley, for NETA it really is a case of building real skills for real jobs.”
He knows meaningful links with employers is the key to success and that’s what he aims to continue to drive through NETA, a part of the Education Training Collective (Etc.).
Fortunately for Karl, marking its 50th anniversary this year, NETA has a long history of equipping people with skills to support heavy industry in the region – in fact that is what it was created for.
Now as NETA prepares to enter its next chapter, he is ready to build on that reputation and heritage to create workforces with skills for the future.
Previously heading up the School of Mechanical, Electrical and the Built Environment at New College Durham, Karl is passionate about the real and immediate impact engineering and technical subjects have on developments happening right now.
Of feeding vital skills into growth sectors, he said: “It is exciting to be part of that.”
Leading the team at NETA, as a Hartlepool lad himself, Karl is keen to be able to create those meaningful opportunities and successes in the Tees Valley. He said: “The chance to impact my local community was definitely a big pull.”
For him, the move to NETA does feel like a return to home turf as a former lecturer at Bede Sixth Form College in Billingham who went on to lead higher education and skills, first at Stockton Riverside College and then across the Etc.
“It is exciting times for NETA and the whole Education Training Collective, which has just been named one of the government’s five Clean Energy Technical Excellence Colleges,” he said.
“This once again aligns the direction of the skills offer at NETA and the wider college group to ambitions for the Tees Valley to become a Net Zero industrial cluster.”
NETA has opened its new £4.7m All Access Academy in Redcar, backed by Levelling Up funding, following a successful bid by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. The facility has increased NETA’s capacity and scope for quality training in scaffolding, rope access and rigging and lifting.
While the new £14.7m NETA Training centre off Princeton Drive, a priority intervention to bring long-term change and investment to Thornaby as part of its Town Deal, will open its doors later this year. It will deliver training for school leavers, apprentices and commercial delegates, in the likes of welding, fabrication, electrical, mechanical, pipefitting, domestic and commercial gas training.
Starting his own career teaching sport and exercise science, no doubt Karl has the drive, motivation and competitive edge to keep NETA moving forward.
“That means continuing to drive standards and quality, growing strategic links with employers and industry leaders,” he said.
“And it’s about creating an offer for school leavers, adult learners, the existing workforce and those looking to retrain or upskill, that tackles national skill shortages and creates the workers that employers are crying out for.”
