Magnox Electric Ltd

NVQ success celebrated

31 July 2008

Part of Bridgwater College, near Hinkley Point which houses the Magnox South Decommissioning Skills Centre at Cannington, was the location for a special event recently, when the chairman and chief executive of EnergySolutions, Steve Creamer, flew in from America to present certificates to the company’s first achievers of the City & Guilds Nuclear Decommissioning NVQ Level 2.

The sixteen candidates all work for Magnox South, part of the EnergySolutions group, and they achieved their NVQ through Bridgwater College, which has worked with the company to ensure the training is relevant and specific to the employees’ job roles. Steve Creamer, who had flown in from the US that morning, met with Bridgwater College’s Principal Fiona McMillan, before presenting the candidates with their NVQ certificates. He expressed his congratulations and commented on the great safety record of nuclear working in this country, and how the UK is an example to the rest of the world in this industry.

Fiona McMillan also commented on the success of the candidates and the relationship between Bridgwater College and Magnox South: “This is one of the best experiences of industry, education and training working together, and is the start of lots of opportunities in the future. It has been tremendously exciting and successful and I am pleased we have been able to make it happen.”

After the presentation, Steve and Fiona both signed Skills Pledges, confirming their commitment to skills training for their workforces, to enable employees to achieve their potential. The Skills Pledge initiative was launched by the Government in 2007 as part of its continuing effort to raise skills and productivity in the UK.

Steve Creamer was then presented with an associate member certificate by Charles Bray, regional manager for the South West National Skills Academy in Nuclear. After a competitive tendering exercise last year, Bridgwater College was appointed the Southwest Regional Hub of the National Skills Academy for Nuclear. The Skills Academy is the leading body for an employer led strategy to develop a standardised and coordinated approach to education, training and skills in the nuclear sector.