In a move set to address the evolving skills landscape of the Humber region, Hull College and CATCH have officially entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This strategic partnership is founded on a shared commitment to support students, apprentices, employers, the communities we serve, and preserve the environment.

The collaboration between Hull College, a leading provider of comprehensive education and training, and CATCH, an industry-led, not-for-profit training facility that specialises in training and apprenticeships for the process, energy, engineering, and renewables sectors, marks a significant step forward in creating a skilled workforce ready to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Initiatives under the memorandum of understanding include joint stakeholder mapping, shared staff and student development opportunities, joint funding bids and ventures plus the co-design of curriculum and careers education to name a few.

David Talbot, CATCH CEO, said: “This partnership allows us to build on the fantastic skills capabilities in the Humber region. Our partnership which spans across both banks of the Humber, enables us to work together to ensure that skills shortages are tackled for the benefit of the region and beyond – uniting skills for the green industries.”

Debra Gray MBE, Hull College Principal & CEO, said: “This strategic partnership marks a pivotal moment for both Hull College and CATCH, as we join forces to address the pressing skills needs of the Humber region and beyond. Together, we are committed to nurturing talent, fostering innovation, and empowering our students and apprentices to thrive in an ever-evolving workforce.

“Through collaborative initiatives and shared resources, we will not only bridge skills gaps but also pave the way for sustainable growth and prosperity in our communities, utilising the power of education and industry partnership to shape a brighter future for generations to come.”

Love was in the air this Valentine’s day – a love for decarbonisation in the Humber Region!

Over 100 people attended the CATCH Industrial decarbonisation Network both in person and online.  David Talbot, CATCH CEO welcomed delegates and provided a backdrop to the meeting. David spoke about how it is fantastic that there is a lot of excitement and opportunities, including the freeport, devolution on both banks of the river, and the Humber Energy Board leading activities across the region. Plus CATCH’s exciting plans to grow training provision over the next 5 years to build up the workforce necessary to deliver net zero ambitions.

David then introduced Corrine Barry who provided a RWE decarbonisation update. Corrine explained that RWE is the largest power producer in the UK – they supply around 15% of the UKs electricity, powering over 10 million homes. Corrine then detailed RWEs investment of £15b in clean energy infrastructure by 2030 to Decarbonise their own assets.  Key stakeholders are awaiting the results of Track 2, phase 2 to enable a new build gas plant with CCS development in Stallingborough and decarbonisation of the existing power plant at Staythorpe, as part of the Viking CCS cluster build out.

Centrica Storages, Chris McClane was up next, first, he introduced their current operations and ambitions to be a net zero business by 2045 with a focus on activities in East Yorkshire. Rough Storage is the UK’s largest gas storage site, representing 50% of the UKs gas storage capacity and Rough 47/8A is currently decommissioned but hydrogen ready. Plans to decarbonise the Easington gas terminal which could save 140,000 tonnes of CO2 per year including fuel switching from 2028.  Their vision for the Humber is an integrated energy hub, hydrogen production, storage and supply business supporting a kick start for the UK’s hydrogen economy.

After a short coffee Jennifer Powers, Meld Energy, provided insight on their Green Hydrogen Facility.  Their mission to develop a portfolio of green hydrogen production.  Meld Energy flagship development is a 100MW green hydrogen production facility at Saltend Chemicals park. This location has the advantages of the existing infrastructure and hydrogen demand from local businesses.

Katie Hedges then gave an update on the progress of the Humber cluster secondment team, working with the University of Lincoln, funded by the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre.

David and the presenters took a number of questions from the audience and David thanked all participants for their contributions.  The next meeting will be held on 24 April

The CATCH Membership Human Factors Network met on 28 September with a session dedicated to the topic of Knowledge Management, in particular the retention of critical knowledge in the high hazard industries.  The network is chaired by Chris Marron from Yara who welcomed Eelco Kruizinga, Senior Principal Consultant at DNV who joined the meeting to give a presentation.

Eelco described how organisations in the military, aviation, health care and consultancy sectors have benefited from implementing a rigorous process for knowledge management and capturing learning to de-risk and add value to future projects.

Organisations typically look at specific knowledge retention scenarios such as People, Asset, Project or Incident.  In the high hazard industries there are some common risks that drive the need for improved Knowledge Management including an ageing workforce, employee mobility, handover between projects, relocation of operations and downsizing.  Eelco outlined a number of useful tools to assist in knowledge retention.

After a coffee break the group discussed plans for 2024 programme including which Human Factors analysis tools and topics would be of interest to the group.

Places are still available on the next Human Factors in Incident Investigation Course @CATCH 21-22 November – booking here with Human Factors Expertise Ltd

For more information about the Human Factors Network please contact katie.hedges@catchuk.org

Last week CATCH was lucky enough to host our second school trip through Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC). Ormiston South Parade Academy came to visit!

Mark Booth, Head of Skills, CATCH said,  “Through the CIEC we have committed to hosting two school visits per year, to inform the children in a fun and practical way about industry careers. Hopefully assisting with building the employees of the future and narrowing the industries skills gap. We were thrilled to welcome Ormiston South Parade Academy pupils, who we all impeccably behaved and pleasure to have on-site with us”

Charlotte Carter, Year 5/6 Teacher,  Ormiston South Parade Academy said, “Wow! Where do I even start!  Thank you so much for such a fantastic project that our pupils have been very lucky to have been part of.  The trip was probably the best trip I’ve ever been on since starting teaching.  My class are a mixed bunch of pupils with a variety of SEN needs and they were honestly so hooked on all the activities. All the staff at CATCH were so kind, patient and such a delight to work with. I definitely have a number of inspired engineers on my hands now.”

The CIEC aim to promote excellence in primary science teaching and learning, increase children’s and teachers’ awareness of STEM careers and industries, and raise children’s science capital.  Mark Contined, “CATCH is very proud to be a part of this amazing initiative to encourage children to consider a career in engineering, giving them hands-on experience and a flavour of what it’s like in industry.  I really can’t recommend enough any company getting involved, a very satisfying and rewarding experience.”

Check out the gallery below – click the arrow to move through the images.

As part of their Humber Business Week programme CATCH and the Humber Nature Partnership hosted their joint Humber Environmental Managers Conference on Wednesday 8^th June.  The event was chaired by Martin Jones, HESQ Manager at Yara.  The event was a hybrid session held in person at CATCH and via TEAMs with over 40 delegates.

Martin introduced the first speaker, Ola Ladapo, Senior Policy Advisor at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who gave a presentation on the Environment Act who covered key policies in the Act including Green Governance, air quality, resource efficiency, water resource management and restoring nature through measures such as establishing Local Nature Recovery Strategies across England.  You can sign up for email alerts from DEFRA here https://preferences.mailshot.defra.gov.uk/

The next presentation was from Tammy Smalley, Head of Conservation at Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and covered an important aspect of the Environment Act on Biodiversity Net Gain.  Tammy detailed the exceptional opportunities for nature recovery and enhancement in the Greater Lincolnshire area and confirmed that there will be a local nature recovery strategy for Greater Lincolnshire with some work already completed on biodiversity opportunity mapping.  Tammy commented on how important Biodiversity Net Gain is to the enhancement of nature and is at the heart of the Environment Act.  Tammy outlined that developers are seen as the ‘buyers’ from landowners as the ‘sellers’ in a system facilitated by planning authorities, Natural England and Wildlife Trusts.  A project called Green Investment in Greater Lincolnshire (GIGL) has secured a grant to create a fair, equitable and transparent market in natural environment asset trading across Greater Lincolnshire to ensure a vibrant and prosperous green investment economy that delivers for people and wildlife.  Delegates were urged to contact the team for more details, especially you are a buyer gigl@lincstrust.co.uk

After a short break Dr Pauline Deutz from the University of Hull gave a presentation on the Circular Economy highlight how companies are engaging with the circular economy and to what extent places benefit from a CE transition.  Pauline highlighted recent research at regional scale through collaboration of places & companies, employment implications, repair sector attitudes and the involvement of social enterprises.

The final presentation was a very timely update on Environmental Constraints in Industrial Clusters which has started looking at water constraints in the Humber as a Pathfinder Project given by Tom Glyn-Jones from the Environment Agency.  Tom outlined the project and presented some early evidence showing the water intensity of proposed technologies being used to reduce industrial carbon emissions.  Tom explained that estimated climate impacts will further challenge availability of water for industrial uses.  The final report is due to be shared with stakeholders shortly and funding has been secured for a phase 2 over next 2 years to include the whole East Coast Cluster

If members of the Environmental Managers Network wish to contact the Agency to find out more about phase 1 of our project, ask us questions, or would like to participate as a stakeholder in phase 2, please use this e-mail address climatechangesupport@environment-agency.gov.uk

The next Humber Environmental Managers Network will be held on Weds 5 October, for more information about this and other CATCH Networks please contact katie.hedges@catchuk.org

Thursday 25^th February at 11am

Title:  Industrial waste heat and fuel switching

Description:  Emissions from heat are the single biggest contributor to UK emissions, with industrial processes contributing ~66 MtCO₂/pa (2016). For the UK to meet it’s climate change obligations, it must generate the same levels of success had with electricity decarbonisation. The webinar focuses on the role of heat recovery and fuel switching can play on industrial process, exploring the current policies, challenges, opportunities, new innovations, case studies as well as the fiscal outlook.

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Thursday 11^th March at 11am

Title: “Optimising energy concept and grid connection for new build – Boost your project ROI with Construction industry’s best kept secrets”

Description: Infrastructure developments are complex projects to manage, with multiple priorities fighting for attention. Energy and connection economics are often overlooked but can have a disproportionate impact on your project’s plan. Having an early view of grid connection and energy concept economics drives the right decisions towards best return on investment, whether a straightforward import connection or a complex concept with embedded power generation and storage.

We will share case studies showing how three simple steps can boost your connection business case:

1. Understanding options: behind the meter assets, ownership, boundaries, tariffs
2. Modelling load, flows and cash flows at early stage to inform design decisions
3. Using deregulated connection approaches and sourcing the right partners

We will also share a connection upgrade case and share thoughts on how to value existing connections.

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Thursday 18^th March at 11am

The next in our series of Lean Six Sigma themed webinars will be on The Wonderful World of Workplace Organisation (5S)

Everything in its place and everything has a place!  5S is defined as a methodology that results in a workplace that is clean, uncluttered, safe, and well organized to help reduce waste and optimize productivity. It’s designed to help build a quality work environment, both physically and mentally.

This webinar will take us through the 5 steps to achieve workplace organisation, with case studies of real-life examples and the benefits it can bring.

For further information or to book a place – please contact Jill Mooney – jill.mooney@catchuk.org

The second Industrial Decarbonisation network brought together 24 participants from around the region.  The network was the first blended meeting, of speakers and participants at the CATCH site, socially distanced and many dialing into the meeting via MS Teams.  The meeting commenced with David Talbot introducing the speakers and commenting on the Humber regions status as the largest cluster for C02 emission in the UK, and that the region has the potential to be a world leader in terms of decarbonisation.

David Theakston, project development engineer at VPI Immingham, started the presentations with an overview of the Humber Zero project between a number of partners including, lead partner VPI, Uniper, Philipps 66 and Total LOR.  David explained that the project goal is to reduce CO2 by 8MT per year.  He explained the pathways and project components such as green Hydrogen, post combustion at refineries and the land available and concept layouts at Uniper and Phillips 66.  David then explained in more detail the project plan including feeds and costs, plus how to link into a new proposed CO2 transport and storage system.

Next, Martin Hopkins from Velocys presented how to develop sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).  Martin advised that the International Civil Aviation organization has an aim to reduce CO2 production by 50% – many of the larger airlines have signed up.  Then he covered other drivers such as the UK excess waste and the government priorities such as net zero, local air quality and inward investment.  SAF is key to decarbonizing the aviation industry.  Next Martin gave an overview of the Grimsby Altalto project to build the UKs first commercial household waste to fuels plant, using household waste as the sustainable feedstock.  The process saves 600,000 Tons a year of non-recyclable waste going to landfill.  Martin outlined the benefit of this is CO2 ready to be captured for use or storage.  The main advantages of these plants are that there is a 70% reduction in greenhouse gasses, reduction in pollutant emissions as it is a clean burning fuel, and a reduction in waste to landfill.  Martin also covered using wood chips as a feedstock.

Katie then gave a short update on the project that CATCH is working on – Innovate UK has funded CATCH and the Humber LEP to develop its methodology for a Roadmap to decarbonise Humber industries.  CATCH and the Humber LEP are applying for Phase 2 funding to deliver their Roadmap from January 2021 through to March 2023.

There is a webinar taking place on the 30^th July – Targeting Industrial net zero in the Humber region – which explains the project in more detail. You can find details of the webinar here.  https://catchuk.org/webinar-targeting-industrial-net-zero-in-the-humber-region/

The next Humber Industrial Decarbonisation Network will take place on 21 October.

If you would like further information on HIDN please contact Katie – katie.hedges@catchuk.org

6^th August 2020 at 11am

Delivered by Catch Technical Consultant – Matt Longley

How lessons from the Film and TV Industry can help other industries improve the Mental Health of their employees.

About Matt

Matt is a Chartered Chemical Engineer who moved into commercial and project management in the equipment hire industry after 13 years in chemicals.

Equipment hire led him to the fast-paced environment of film and TV production. He has worked on some of the most well-known films such as Harry Potter, War Horse and The Dark Knight Rises.

The loss of colleague to suicide compelled him to form 6ft From The Spotlight a non-profit organisation that provides mental health support and training to freelance crew members in the creative industries.

He has advised film and TV clients including the BFI and presented to the Joint Advisory Committee for Entertainment and is currently working with the Film and TV Charity on their Whole Picture Programme to improve industry mental health.

The Webinar

Matt will discuss:-

The Prevalence of Mental Health in The Workplace

Film and TV industry Issues and how they translate to other industries

The law and Mental Health/Stress

The Business Case to invest in Mental Health

The Four Pillars to improve mental health in the Workplace

• Prevention
• Intervention
• Resilience
• Measurement

Practical actions

Training Considerations

• Mental Health First Aid – when is it appropriate
• Managing Mental Health

To book your place contact jill.mooney@catchuk.org

Unfortunately, we have taken the decision to cancel this years Annual Awards Dinner.  This was not an easy choice, however one that we felt we must take given the circumstances.  We will still be celebrating with our award finalists on the 24th September 2020, with a small awards ceremony, which will be invite only.

We are looking forward to next year and are excited to announce that our dinner will take place on the 6th May 2021 – and we cannot wait to celebrate with you in person!

if you have any questions or concerns, please contact Lisa – lisa.buck@catchuk.org