• • • NEWS • • •
Lord Johnson visits Schneider Electric’s Leeds Innovation Hub to see energy innovation in action
ord Johnson, the Minister for Investment at the Department for Business and Trade, recently visited Schneider Electric’s Innovation Hub in Leeds.
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The Leeds Innovation Hub features cutting-edge technology and innovations that are driving the UK’s journey to energy efficiency and sustainability.
Schneider Electric employs 550 people at its Leeds smart factory and Innovation Hub - more than a tenth of its UK workforce. It has recently benefited from a £7.2 million
Stuart Smith elected ECA president
investment to upgrade the facility upgrade, creating 110 new jobs over the next five years.
Schneider Electric said this significant investment underscores the company’s growth trajectory due to rising demand from the energy transition and the electric vehicle (EV) market.
Kelly Becker, zone president UK&I at Schneider Electric, said: “It reinforces Schneider Electric’s long-term commitment to supporting the UK’s move to decarbonisation and represents a boost to the local green economy.”
BGEN appoints head of business development B
GEN, one of the UK’s largest engineering firms driving the energy transition, has appointed Ron Ellis as head of business development.
In his new role, Mr Ellis is tasked with building on the company’s recent success and securing additional contracts in sectors including power and energy, pharmaceuticals, utilities, industrial and food and beverage. Reporting into chief executive Robin Whitehead, Mr Ellis is responsible for the development and implementation of BGEN’s sales strategy across all its business units, including engineering solutions, technology, nuclear and international.
He will also oversee the expansion of BGEN’s mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, control and automation (MEICA) offering amongst its current client portfolio, as well as securing new business opportunities in the energy transition space.
Mr Ellis said: “BGEN has enjoyed significant growth in recent years and I’m looking forward to playing my part in the future success of the company. “As a business, we’re here to help solve some of the toughest engineering challenges of the modern world. BGEN has an enviable reputation within the sectors it operates, and along with the wider team, we’ll be identifying and securing contracts which align with our strategic goals.”
Training providers invited to report apprenticeship cost increases
he new president of ECA, the UK’s leading engineering services trade association, is business leader and electrical engineer, Stuart Smith.
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Mr Smith started as an apprentice electrician in 1986 on a CITB training scheme; started his own business in 1997 and became a director of Stromtechs in 2007.
Since joining ECA, he has been vice chairman and chairman of the Thames Valley branch; Thames Valley branch representative at the Central South REC for at least five years, and Central South representative on the ECA Council since May 2019. Mr Smith takes over the ECA Presidency from Sean Smyth. During the last 12 months, Mr Smyth played a critical role in guiding ECA as it supported its members to grow and prosper.
6 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • JUNE 2024
raining providers in England are being given the chance to report on the cost effectiveness of delivering the popular Installation Electrician/ Maintenance Electrician apprenticeship standard. They have until June 28 to complete a survey which invites them to highlight areas where their costs have increased, and whether this means that current funding levels remain too low. The survey, run by the Electrotechnical Skills Partnership on behalf of the employer group which oversees the apprenticeship, comes at the end of the first year of a new curriculum which also saw total funding per learner increase from £18k to £20k.
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The content and duration of the apprenticeship expanded at the same time, however, leading many providers to comment that this increase (which followed several years of frozen rates) was still not enough.
electricalengieneeringmagazine.co.uk
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