I had an interesting meeting with senior managers at Egger in Hexham last week to discuss the achievements and challenges faced by the company. I was accompanied by Paul Brannen one of our North East MEPs. It's great that we have two Labour MEP for the North East, Jude and Paul are have met with many of the regions main employers since they were elected and are working hard to achieve policy changes at a European level, that secure jobs and promote growth here in our region. Paul and I met with the management teams for Egger, the chipboard manufacturer and Egger forestry, which is a separate company offering a complete forest management service.
Egger has remained in a strong position, in spite of the global economic downturn, producing materials not only for the building trade but also finished products for home improvements such as laminate flooring and furniture. Two separate policy areas which could help employers like Egger and SCA paper products in Prudhoe are agriculture and skills.
The supply of high quality raw materials is vital to the business. Up to 40% of recycled wood can be used but the rest must come from sustainable sources such as Kielder forest. There is a biomass power plant on the Egger site which burns wood particles that are too fine to be incorporated into wood products but any policy that encourages burning wood before it has been used for other purposes does not help manufacturers of wood products.
The one of other challenges faced by employers is a shortage of skills; across the manufacturing sector skilled engineers are in short supply. Egger do a great job in training their own apprentices but more are needed and if I was giving careers advice I would advise young people to give careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths serious consideration.
Work must be done to address the skills shortage. Vocational routes are just as valid as more traditional University courses. I also think that there need to be a radical change in the way that vocational qualifications and apprenticeships are applied for. One change would be to have higher level vocational training and apprenticeships applied for via the UCAS system, so that students studying Level 3 qualifications such as A-Levels are presented with a full range of options.
It was great to join Paul for this meeting, afterwards he said;
“Egger is the jewel in the Hexham economy and is a real European success story. Not only is Egger an economic force in its own right but it brings jobs through the supply chain. It is the biggest single buyer of timber from Kielder for example. As a member of the European Agriculture and Rural Development Committee I believe that the North East is well poised to expand our rural economy and deliver growth and jobs.”
Egger has remained in a strong position, in spite of the global economic downturn, producing materials not only for the building trade but also finished products for home improvements such as laminate flooring and furniture. Two separate policy areas which could help employers like Egger and SCA paper products in Prudhoe are agriculture and skills.
The supply of high quality raw materials is vital to the business. Up to 40% of recycled wood can be used but the rest must come from sustainable sources such as Kielder forest. There is a biomass power plant on the Egger site which burns wood particles that are too fine to be incorporated into wood products but any policy that encourages burning wood before it has been used for other purposes does not help manufacturers of wood products.
The one of other challenges faced by employers is a shortage of skills; across the manufacturing sector skilled engineers are in short supply. Egger do a great job in training their own apprentices but more are needed and if I was giving careers advice I would advise young people to give careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths serious consideration.
Work must be done to address the skills shortage. Vocational routes are just as valid as more traditional University courses. I also think that there need to be a radical change in the way that vocational qualifications and apprenticeships are applied for. One change would be to have higher level vocational training and apprenticeships applied for via the UCAS system, so that students studying Level 3 qualifications such as A-Levels are presented with a full range of options.
It was great to join Paul for this meeting, afterwards he said;
“Egger is the jewel in the Hexham economy and is a real European success story. Not only is Egger an economic force in its own right but it brings jobs through the supply chain. It is the biggest single buyer of timber from Kielder for example. As a member of the European Agriculture and Rural Development Committee I believe that the North East is well poised to expand our rural economy and deliver growth and jobs.”
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