Today, CATCH has achieved the Silver employer recognition scheme award recognising their ongoing commitment to supporting the armed forces community.

Having achieved the Bronze award in 2022, the granting of the Silver Award today demonstrates the additional steps they have taken to support those who serve or have served in the armed forces, including reservists, veterans, and their families.

As a military-friendly employer, their team includes ex-forces personnel from across the Army, Navy and RAF, who bring valuable skills and experience to the organisation.

Mark Booth, Head of Skills Training Delivery at CATCH, said:

“As an employer of ex-forces personnel from all 3 services I am honoured that CATCH has been recognised with the Armed Forces Silver Award 2025. The award is a progression on the Bronze Award granted in 2022 and reaffirms our ongoing commitment to employing and supporting those with current or previous roles in the armed forces. Having previously completed 24 years service in the RAF I am honoured to work for a military-friendly employer, championing the work of the armed forces, providing a flexible and supportive working environment”.

CATCH will continue to support, advocate for, and provide opportunities for members of the armed forces community. To find out more about CATCH, visit: www.catchuk.org

CATCH hosted their Cyber Security (Operational Technologies) Network on Wednesday 11 June with over 20 delegates in person and via Teams. The focus of the session was a presentation with Elliot Gidley from Claroty on the topic of vulnerability and risk management.

By seeking to improve operational efficiency to drive profits, management boards are exposing more risk to the business through allowing greater connectivity to systems from, for example, vendors. Bad operators can then exploit these potential weakness with the aim to ransom the business to fund criminal activity.

Digitalisation is driving innovation through automation and robotics, digital twins, 5G networks and edge computing. Potential back doors are being opened up across these areas. Critical infrastructure is governed by regulations and frameworks to control and manage this risk.

Currently 69% of OT organisations typically pay ransoms ($1.1B in 2023) compared to 24% for IT environments. OT victims can present serious safety and other implications from being offline/out of production so paying the fine can be the lowest risk option.

Elliot gave an overview of a recent survey looking at OT Exposure and the Global State of CPS Security in 2025. Findings showed that 12% of researched organisations have OT assets communication with malicious domains, through eg. KEVs & insecure internet connections. Elliot highlighted how to prioritise remediation through a focus on known exploited vulnerabilities, ransomware links and insecure internet connections. The group discussed the risks exposed to sites by some vendors and how clients can work together with vendors to improve security.

Elliot demonstrated how Claroty can help manage exposure through business impact assessment. It is important to create a priority list of vulnerabilities for operational technologies to focus time and resources. Elliot took many questions and after a coffee break ran through a demonstration of the Claroty xDome dashboard and functionality.

The next meeting of the Cyber Security Network will be hosted at Tronox on Wednesday 15 October. For more information about CATCH Networks please contact katie.hedges@catchuk.org.

On Thursday 5^th June 2025, we opened our doors at our CATCH Facility and welcomed delegates for our final event of Humber Business Week, our CATCH EDIB Conference.

Chair Paul McCartan (Yara) welcomed everyone to (not so) sunny Stallingborough, welcoming faces both new and old to the conference. Paul began with an introduction to Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Belonging, as well as the CATCH EDIB Charter and the importance of EDIB in the workplace.

Paul then introduced the guest speakers for the event, Fintan Canavan and Ivaylo Arnaudov from Protiviti Global Business Consulting, who provided a fascinating insight to Generational Diversity in the Workplace and Unlocking the Productivity Potential of a Multigenerational Workforce.

Sitting down for a fireside chat, Fintan and Ivo explained how their study had been completed in conjunction with the London School of Economics, following concerns from businesses and clients about generational divide in the workplace, and a lack of research and support about what can be done to improve productivity and relationships within the workplace.

Protiviti focused their initial study on meetings. It was found that 35% of workplace meetings were considered to be unproductive, and that by including multiple generations and engagement teams from departments across the business,  a shift in culture and beliefs surrounding meetings can  allow for improved knowledge sharing and relationships to be built, bridging the gap between generations within the workplace.

Fintan and Ivo also spoke about the preliminary results from their second-year study surrounding the use of AI in the workplace, with delegates opening up the conversation about their experiences on the use of AI in the workplace. While it is often found to be a fast-growing and useful tool across industries and sectors, it was found by Protiviti that there is some concern across younger generations about future entry level jobs, however it is this generation that are the most comfortable using this technology.  Intellectual property and data security was also found to be a concern for most.

The session culminated with breakout discussions, with delegates discussing not only the topics that had been covered, but also the generational challenges that they faced within their own workforces, and how having open discussions with senior leaders could result in a positive impact across the company surrounding generational diversity.

Fintan and Ivo closed the conference by introducing their third-year study, which will launch later this year and is looking for businesses and participants to join them as they continually research generational diversity within the workforce.

The next CATCH EDIB Network will be held on Thursday 10^th July. For more information about the CATCH EDIB Network and membership, please contact lisa.buck@catchuk.org.

CATCH held their second Humber Business Week event at the Ropewalk in Barton.  An event on Circular Economy and the Environment as part of our annual Environmental Managers Network programme.  Over 40 delegates joined us online and in person and were warmly welcomed by the chair, Martin Jones, SHEQ Manager at Prax Lindsey Oil Refinery.  The event was kindly sponsored by TYR Law.

Andrew Gadd from Footprint Services set the scene with an engaging presentation on developing circular economy business models.  Using a glass jar analogy, Andrew explained how recycling was not the way out of the climate crisis.  The audience were asked to consider how do we move beyond the smash-melt-burn economy and embrace new opportunities to operate around the idea of refuse, rethink and reduce.  Andrew used a case study: baboodle – “rent everything but the baby” as an example of new ways of thinking and sharing resources.  Andrew described how all businesses can move towards being more circular through closing resource loops – using less material per product, slowing – extending product life – intensifying, enhancing the productivity of materials – closing, recovering and reusing materials, regenerating – reviving natural resources used in production processes.

Next up delegates heard about the Reverse Coal Project from Dr Amir Badiee from the University of Lincoln.  Amir first explained the background to the project, aimed at addressing sector specific climate challenges by reducing emission across energy intensive sectors such as energy production and agriculture.  One challenge being carbon dioxide released from drained/drying peatlands in the UK.  One solution developed is the reverse coal project – an idea from Lapwing Estate – to rewet peatlands and grow energy crops which can then be used as biomass with the benefit of improving biodiversity, reduce co2 release and providing new water reservoirs.

The energy crops can then be harvested and turned into Biochar which can be used further as a combustible to generate electricity, used in steel works as replacement for coal or simply buried as permanent carbon storage (if ground conditions are favourable).  Amir explained the advantages of biochar over coal with almost identical calorific values (for biochar produced at higher temperatures) and reduction in the amount of contamination, such as sulphur and nitrogen.  One challenge is the yield following pyrolysis, which is extremely low, meaning that large amounts of land would be needed.  Amir is now researching Bio-Oil as an alternative for power transmission insulation fluid used in engines and machinery.  These solutions are not about decarbonising the whole industry, but about helping to defossilise the economy.

After a break delegates enjoyed a very informative presentation from Will McDonald from Ecosystems Knowledge Network titled An Environment for Net Zero: the role of land, water & nature in net zero goals for North Lincolnshire & the Humber.  Will’s talk focused on natures ability to sequester carbon and how increases in carbon credit pricing will drive demand, against a backdrop of limited supply.  Will described the work of Northern Lincolnshire Environmental Farmers Group, to establish a carbon baseline for a collective of 30,000ha land and then looking at natural solutions for carbon offsetting and determine benefits that can then also be sold to others.

The morning event was wrapped up with a presentation from Alex Hajok, Manager of Humber Nature Partnership, who updated the group on their work streams and strategic framework.  Their aim remains to work towards favourable condition status for the estuary, member site assessment and response, developing formal communication channels and promoting best practice.  Leah Young, Conservation Officer with Humber Nature Partnership, who presented a case study on dealing with protected wild bird species on a local industrial site.

The next CATCH Environmental Managers Network will be held on Wednesday 8th October.  For more information about CATCH membership and networks please contact katie.hedges@catchuk.org

On Tuesday 3^rd June, CATCH hosted our first event of Humber Business Week, our Humber Industrial Decarbonisation Conference at Aura Innovation Centre in Hull, kindly sponsored by the Apprentice Employment Agency & the University of Hull.

Over 60 delegates were welcomed in person by Chair Professor Joe Howe, University of Lincoln, who thanked all in attendance for joining before introducing keynote speaker, Professor Peter Styring, University of Sheffield.

Peter spoke about the importance of understanding the difference between Decarbonisation and Defossilisation. Peter also expressed the importance of industrial cluster collaboration in areas such as the Humber Region, where plans for a CCS pipeline network have been in place since 2013. After discussing the work still needed to reduce power & industrial carbon emissions, Peter put forward that if industry continue to come together, government should soon follow suit.

Working on a simple premise of People, Prosperity and Planet, Peter stated that these three aspects needed to be held in people’s minds as we moved forward. Discussing the “Flue2Chem” project from Innovate UK, Peter demonstrated how a circular economy of carbon capture can lead to new low carbon products being generated.

Ralph Windeatt of ABP and Frederic Sene, Air Products, then gave a joint presentation and insight into Low Carbon Energy Transition in the Humber Industrial Cluster, and how they planned to work with one another to not only import Hydrogen in the form of Ammonia into the UK but also utilise the same shipping and transport infrastructure for Carbon Dioxide in the future.

Ralph explained how ABP were working to ensure the relevant deep-water infrastructure was developed, allowing for the necessary transport and carbon pipelines to be utilised. Ralph also explained that ABP were leading in utilising hydrogen as a power source for their port services equipment, demonstrating that this low carbon fuel is a safe and effective route to decarbonise some of their operations.

Frederic explained how Air Products were also leading the way in the UK, using liquid hydrogen as a fuel source and having the first hydrogen fuelling station in the country. He further explained how Air Products had built the NEOM Green Hydrogen Project in Saudi Arabia, where electrolysis technology was used to produce hydrogen in the form of ammonia from abundant wind and solar energy.  The green ammonia is then transported by ship to users in Northern Europe and the UK, where the ammonia can be dissociated and compressed into hydrogen which could then be used as fuel.

Following a short coffee and networking break, it was the turn of Gavin Rowson, Uniper, to speak to delegates on the Killingholme Low Carbon Power Project. Uniper aim to be a carbon neutral business by 2040 and are working to provide customers across both the UK and Europe with green energy of the future.

While they operate across the world, Gavin explained that Killingholme was the ideal location; a heavy industrial area, multiple transport links by land and sea, as well as two prospective carbon dioxide pipelines in the vicininty: Northern Endurance and Viking CCS. Uniper plan to build a new, dedicated carbon capture power plant, designed to be at 95% capture, while providing at least 470 MW of new power to the energy grid. Uniper are confident this project is highly deliverable and that they are prepared for the project begin, showing how they can help support decarbonisation in the future.

The final speaker of the event was Edward Gill of Exolum. After an introduction about the company to delegates, Edward began by discussing the challenges that had been identified by Exolum, and how this then drove their strategy. Edward described Exolum’s role in enabling the expansion of Sustainable Aviation Fuel in the UK and their aim to become Europe’s leading hydrogen logistics provider for end-to-end logistics service, utilising their existing knowledge and infrastructure.

The event closed with a networking lunch and a chance to meet our exhibitors.  The next Humber Industrial Decarbonisation Network will be held on Wednesday 24th September.  For more information please contact katie.hedges@catchuk.org.

We are thrilled to announce that CATCH Apprenticeships has recently been successful in gaining accredited apprenticeship status from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) for our Level 3 Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician Apprenticeship.

IET Accreditation is recognised throughout the world, and awarded by the Engineering Council to professional, competent technicians and engineers, and is only awarded to providers who have the potential to deliver the competencies required for professional registration.

In order to receive accreditation, the CATCH Level 3 Maintenance and Operation Engineering Apprenticeship undertook varying degrees of assessment by the IET, focusing not only on the quality of the training and teaching, but also how the apprentices are supported outside their training and the relationships built with employers and businesses.

By being an IET Accredited Provider, CATCH Apprentices will also have the opportunity to register and join the Institution of Engineering and Technology upon completion of their training, meaning they will become registered technician, which in turn can assist in strengthening their position within the industry.

“The IET accreditation of CATCH’s maintenance apprenticeship programmes recognises and validates the quality of the training provided by CATCH staff and gives confidence to apprentices learning at CATCH that the skills and knowledge they are gaining will be accredited by a professional body.”, Bob Padley, Head of Process and Maintenance.

We would like to congratulate all who are involved in the organisation and delivery of our Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician Apprenticeship, and for continuing to ensure excellence across the board at CATCH.

For more information about out Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician Apprenticeship, please contact bob.padley@catchuk.org.

On the 26^th March, Professor Joe Howe, welcomed delegates both online and in person to the CATCH Industrial Decarbonisation Network, sponsored by Equilibrion.

Phil Rogers introduced his company Equilibrion and gave an introduction to nuclear energy in the UK, including the context around nuclear ambition and the role of Great British Nuclear – which is there to drive development in the industry.

Phil presented further details about the Siting Study.  The aim is to support a large region, spanning West to East Midlands up to the Humber, in understanding the potential opportunities for the siting of new nuclear generation and what the benefits could provide.  They initially identified over 80 possible sites to be further refined to create a short list.  Phil discussed potential benefits including growth in skills, abundant supply of heat, and clustering around energy generators and opportunities for private wire networks. The report is due to be launched end of April, early May.

Phil then highlighted a new project that is looking at the possible use of nuclear power as a method of delivering the future increased demand in hydrogen production.  This project will also explore the opportunity for hydrogen production from nuclear to support a net zero transition across the gas network, in collaboration with northern gas networks (NGN and Wales and West Utilities).  Phil concluded his presentation by introducing Eq.flight – a proposal for low carbon aviation fuel from nuclear energy.

Next Joe introduced Matthew Collinson, Lead Officer – Economic Growth Projects at North Lincolnshire Council.  Matthew opened his talk by exploring Green Steel and the UK Steel Strategy.  He explained the traditional process of making steel (oxygen steelmaking) and the green steel process using Electric Arc Furnace.  Matthew advised that in February the government announced their steel strategy: the plan for steel consultation.

A British Steel planning application, that was submitted in Jan 24 has been approved to develop a single 130 tonne EAF facility using their existing site in Scunthorpe.  £1.25bn will be invested to transform British steel into a clean, green sustainable business.  North Lincolnshire Council, alongside three other Humber Local Authorities have, committed to the UK Steel Charter, which is a commitment to procurement practices to include more UK made steel to support the economy.

Matthew told the group that NLC are seeking to develop a green growth policy that will allow for the enhancement of existing investments into manufacturing green energy projects, alongside local and combined authorities, to support new inward investment opportunities. Whilst supporting the existing energy and decarbonisation initiatives.

Lastly Matthew gave an update on The Northern Lincolnshire Artificial Intelligence (AI) Growth Zone.  This project will bring forward extensive infrastructure capable of delivering more than 1.5 gigawatts of AI processing power.  The zone is planning for 4 campus sites in Northern Lincolnshire that are deliverable before 2030.

After the break, Katie Privett, Regional Insights Manager at Northern Powergrid presented New Distribution Future Energy Scenarios 24-2050.   Katie introduced Northern Power Grid, the organisation that moves energy through the North East, Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire areas.

The DFES outlines the expected demand, flexibility and distributed generation and battery storage update up to 2050, through modelling and using local plans.  From 2024 this includes more local engagement, planning, housing, employment land and large demand generation.  Northern Powergrid encourage stakeholders to participate in their forecasts to align with local and regional plans and help prioritise areas for investment.  Katie explained they use that data to ensure network capacity is available to support regional demand.

Katie highlighted that peak demand has been reducing since 1980’s, partly due to energy efficiency in modern household appliances and in part due to de-industrialisation.  More recently we can see an upturn in peak demand and expect this to continue to rise due to electrification technologies.

All speakers took questions and Joe thanked the speakers and delegates for their participation.

The date of the next meeting is Tuesday 3rd June, during Humber BizWeek, taking place at Aura Innovation Centre.  Registration details will be out soon. Please contact katie.hedges@catchuk.org for further information about exhibition space.

CATCH hosted the Major Hazards Group on Wednesday 19 March. The group is chaired by Dan Rawdin from SSE Thermal and was attended by over 25 delegates in person and online.

The first topic was Accident and Incident Investigation including Route Cause Analysis (RCA) led by Russell Page from Hayden Freeman Continuous Improvement (HFCI). Russell detailed how RCA can contribute to continuous improvement. How many RCAs are you doing? Each RCA presents opportunities to identify improvements and can chip away at performance improvement. More RCAs are better and so identifying resources/teams to carry these out is important. The group undertook the first exercise to identify pros vs cons of team-based vs individual based approach to RCAs. Russell reflected on management systems and how they drive improvement.

After a break the group undertook a second exercise to test the groups ‘system 2 thinking’ to explore how we resist engaging intuition and gut feelings in favour of finding data, finding evidence and avoiding bias. Russell outlined the 5 whys prime tool for RCA noting how critical it is to define the system/problem/standard first.

RCA as a tool can move from reactive towards being proactive, by identifying common themes, trends and common failure modes.

The next speaker was David Cook from Tyr Law speaking on Protestor Injunctions. David outlined the features of protest including reasons such as climate change, the act of protest such as placards, noise or other disruption and usually seeking publicity. How do businesses manage through these times of change in society. David described the tactics of the campaign group Just Stop Oil and the impact they had on COMAH sites.

Tyr were able to advise their clients on injunctions. These can be obtained fairly quickly in a matter of days. They can also be triggered by police intelligence of a future protest and can cover multiple sites under threat. The injunction needs to be served on persons unknown through clear signage at the site and allow easy access to the court materials to explain the injunction in detail. David explained the circumstances under which an injunction would be considered and what other measures would be taken, such as increased or improved security & CCTV. Injunctions are usually reviewed annually. The more recent tactics of JSO has been to target sporting events and art galleries, potentially because the oil sector has put effective deterrents in place.

CATCH facilitate a range of networks to support our members, the full programme can be viewed here https://catchuk.org/catch/events-and-networks/

If you are interested in attending our networks or need more information about membership please contact katie.hedges@catchuk.org

CATCH hosted their Cyber Security (OT) Network on 5^th March.  Adam Chapman from Tronox chairs the group and welcomed over 30 delegates to the meeting and introductions were made.

The agenda was reviewed and the group Terms of Reference was approved.

The first speaker was Mark ‘Magpie’ Graham from Dragos who gave a presentation on 2025 OT/ICS Cybersecurity Briefing.  Magpie highlighted that the current geopolitical climate is driving increased concern for cybersecurity in industrial environments.  Magpie explored the range and complexity of threats including tracking of 24 named threat groups and over 30 hacktivist groups claiming OT impacts.

Magpie detailed several recent attacks including malware multistage attacks such as FUXNET & FrostyGoop.  The convergence of hacktivism and state-sponsored threats was mapped and discussed.  New threat groups were reviewed including GRAPHITE.  The recommendation was shared to initiate proactive threat hunts to identify unauthorised SSH and PPTP communications.  Tactics, tools and procedures were discussed.  Magpie concluded with advice on the 5 ICS cybersecurity critical controls.  Magpie took questions.

After a break, Lambda and Tronox gave a joint presentation.  Adam, Tony and Sherol gave a detailed input with some content restricted on sharing afterwards.  Adam outlined the objectives and design targets to develop a high level design document.  Tony described how to map out the cybersecurity lifecycle of an OT site.  Sherol described how to secure senior stakeholder buy in to be clear about the project and what input was needed.  A workshop kicked off the programme to identify who would be included and developed a collaborative approach.  This required coordination across countries and time zones.  Tony & Sherol described some of the project challenges and solutions, for example procurement, transport and logistics and third-party vendors.  A Q&A session followed the presentation.

The group discussed the next 5 day training opportunity with ISA at CATCH in late April.  Places are still available to book.

The next meeting will be held on 11 June, for more information about this and other CATCH networks please contact katie.hedges@catchuk.org

CATCH hosted the Humber Human Factors Network on Wednesday 26th February 2025. The focus of the session was Fatigue Management, with guest speakers Professor Fiona Earle and Dr. Lea Freour from the Centre for Human Factors at the University of Hull. The event was chaired by Chris Marron from Yara, who welcomed over 20 delegates, both in person and online.

Fiona began by outlining how fatigue matters as it has implications for Health and Safety, as well as huge implications towards wellbeing. The first exercise the group partook in focused on Cause Vs Consequence of fatigue. Fiona showed how a Bowtie Model can help understand how to use control measures to prevent causes, and how mitigation measures limit consequences. Fiona went on to highlight the variety of causes of fatigue for different job roles, ranging from mental, physical, emotional and sleep related causes, as well as how hard it is to measure fatigue. She went on to state that effective management of fatigue requires requires exploration of causes and consequences just like any other health and safety risk.

The second exercise was a facilitated discussion around the factors that push us to work more hours and take greater risks with our work patterns and sleep schedules. In order to manage fatigue risks, organisations can access awareness training for managers and establish a risk management policy.

Training is available through the University of Hull, more information can be found here.

The key takeaway for delegates was that it is critical to foster a positive culture around fatigue and to improve recognition of the signs, causes and consequences.

The next Humber Human Factors Network will take place on Wednesday 18th June 2025, with a focus on Human Machine Interface.

For more details on this and other CATCH Networks, please contact katie.hedges@catchuk.org.