Oil & Gas Academy Gets Shortlisted for National Award

OPITO - The Oil & Gas Academy has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award which recognizes the support colleges provide in helping businesses develop and grow.

The Aberdeen-headquartered Academy has been nominated in the Business to College Awards which take place on Wednesday, March 24 at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh.

The company, which acts as the focal point for skills, training and workforce development in the UK oil and gas industry, has been short-listed in the Innovation category as a result of a partnership formed with Forth Valley Collage, which aims to turn redundancy into opportunity for unemployed engineers through effective skills utilization.

The Academy developed the Transformation Training Program which was successfully piloted by Forth Valley Collage in response to redundancies created in the mechanical and engineering sectors within the Falkirk and Grangemouth area due to the recession.

The program offers individuals with transferable skills the potential to take advantage of a new and exciting career in the offshore industry both here in the UK and internationally, ensuring their skills are re-utilized to the fullest.

On completion successful candidates receive widely recognized and approved certification accepted by all industry employers.

OPITO Group CEO David Doig said, "Part of the Academy's role is to ensure that we have a wave of people moving into the industry to offset losses generated by the global opportunities it offers. With many Scots being made redundant in the last year as a result of the recession -- and many of those from skilled trades -- this model is an efficient way to neatly transfer skills from an area of decline in the economy into an area of growth. This partnership outlines the importance of Government, the learning supply chain and industry, through its Academy, working together to achieve a common goal."