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UK Business Secretary meets apprentices at Aker Solutions

Dr Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, visited Aker Solutions yesterday (1st September) to find out more about the company’s growth plans and meet the next generation of oil and gas talent.

The visit follows the announcement of the international oil services company’s plan to recruit 300 staff to its Aberdeen operation and create 200 positions at their newly established west-London engineering office.

The recruitment drive is a pro-active move to ensure Aker Solutions has the necessary skills in place to cope with future business in light of strong growth prospects.

Aker Solutions currently employs around 100 graduates and apprentices, with more planned, and is focused on developing and investing in new talent through apprenticeship and graduation schemes as part of its recruitment drive.

During his visit, the Minister will met some of the firm’s future talent who are taking part in these programmes.

Mike Forbes, one of the managing directors at Aker Solutions in Aberdeen, said: “Aker Solutions aims to inspire young people to consider careers in engineering straight from the classroom and support them with training and development. We are pleased that Dr Cable is keen to see how this works in practice and hope that we can demonstrate the importance of encouraging our young people into the engineering and the exciting energy sector.”

“We have taken a pro-active approach to our recruitment and are manning-up now ahead of the big waves of work we know are coming, this involves nurturing our own talent as well as recruiting more experienced people.

“We anticipate that workload levels will remain high over the coming years and we want to be well-placed to capitalise on future opportunities.”

At Aker Solutions apprentices can take part in a rotational based programme, which sees them work in different departments developing their knowledge, or on the job training, while some participate in a day release programme at Aberdeen College.

The company also employs university graduates who undertake a four-year development programme.

Aker Solutions’ graduate development programme has recently been accredited by professional engineering body, the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).

The award recognises the commitment, processes and procedures the company has put in place to help young engineers achieve chartered status in their profession as effectively and quickly as possible.

Aker Solutions is one of Scotland’s largest employers with a workforce of more than 2,500 people. In addition the company has smaller offices and facilities in Great Yarmouth, Maidenhead, Stockton-on-Tees and Whitstable. The company employs 17,000 employees plus 6,000 contract staff in 30 countries worldwide, and has annual revenues of approximately £3.9billion.

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