TTE and British Steel have a brilliant long-standing working relationship which has been developed over numerous years and continues to guide students from the local areas into careers in engineering. TTE was originally established over 30 years ago as a joint venture by ICI and British Steel to develop apprentices for Teesside industry and became part of the Middlesbrough College Group in 2019.
British Steel on Teesside have just taken on their most recent cohort of apprentices from TTE, welcoming more aspiring engineers into the business.
Tony Malone, Cranes & Infrastructure Engineer at British Steel Teesside Beam Mill, comments on this partnership: “I am very proud to be part of British Steel. My service within the company goes back 47 years and I have been part of the apprentice development within the company for over 20 years.
“I have pride in helping young people join the business and supporting them on their journey to qualify in their trade, this has been and continues to be a very rewarding part of my job as an Engineer at British Steel.
“What I do say to new people joining British Steel is – don’t treat what you have just as a job, treat it for what it can be; a career path. Longevity within our business is commonplace, opportunities do come along, and progression is available for the right people, but you must really want it.
“Working with TTE as our training provider on recruitment and development of our apprentices has shown itself to be very successful. The communication lines on managing our apprentice programme have been key to the programme’s success. Steelmaking has been in our region for decades and TTE help use to keep the traditions of our industry bring into it quality young people.”
TTE and British Steel give young engineers the opportunity to establish their career at one of Europe’s leading international steel manufactures, whilst gaining a qualification and experience future employers look for in new talent.
Steve Brown, Electrical Engineer at British Steel Teesside Beam Mill, comments: “I have worked with and mentored apprentices for well over 10 years now. Being a part of the British Steel apprentice development path is one of the most rewarding, satisfying and empowering process that anyone could experience. The personnel changes throughout the process that the apprentice goes through is like no other.
“Therefore, it is critical that the right path is forged and implemented in the correct manor to enable the apprentices to excel. The close working relationship and core ethics between British Steel and TTE is the fundamental ingredient needed for the present and future development of apprentice engineers.
“TTE have been established for a very long time and was built on the bedrock of teaching and delivering the core engineering principles that apprentices require to flourish, for this reason it is imperative that working alongside TTE to deliver the future generation of engineers is of paramount importance.”
Character development, self-confidence, self-management and communication are all key aspects of completing an apprenticeship and are areas in which British Steel apprentices thrive throughout their programmes. Working in partnership to ensure the next industry specialists are provided with support and guidance throughout the programme is something TTE and British Steel have perfected, the long-standing relationship enables clear communication and combined goals from the get-go.
Steve Stonehouse, Maintenance Engineer at British Steel Skinningrove, goes on to say: “I’m proud to be a part of the British steel partnership with TTE here. It’s great to see that we are carrying on the tradition of taking on apprentices; they are the future of British Steel even more so now as a lot of the senior craft employees are retiring.
“TTE have helped us to recruit and train apprentices for a long time, and in the same building that dates to before 1977 when I attended the same training facility.
“The TTE staff have a great understanding of what British Steel are looking for from a training provider. They are keen to instil the same standards that our apprentices have been trained to for years. Long may this partnership continue.”
Not only partnering with British Steel, TTE works closely with many local businesses in the engineering, oil & gas, process and manufacturing sectors. This allows apprentices to gain invaluable on-the-job experience and qualifications over two years, while supporting employers’ future workforce development commitments.
Lastly, John Cooke, Operations Manager at TTE, says: “I am proud to have been involved at all stages with the British Steel and TTE apprenticeship relationship, including supporting the training needs and development of apprentices to support the steel industry.
“To see the development of young people maturing into high quality maintenance technicians is extremely rewarding for myself and the TTE team, while also acknowledging the support and contribution from the British Steel Apprentice steering group.
“Skills, knowledge and workplace behaviours are a discipline that TTE staff embed and monitor within their curriculum towards learners and tailor those attributes to the requirement of British Steel and industry.
“TTE work closely together to support the mills in producing high calibre safety conscious apprentices who match the criteria British Steel require to support a contingency plan for their workforce.”
To work with TTE, and experience the invaluable bespoke apprenticeship and training solutions British Steel have, get in touch with our specialist team by emailing johncooke@tte.co.uk or becky.brown@tte.co.uk.
