February 2026, by Tony Lloyd
The Tees Valley Skills Consortium was established to de-risk the need for skills in the Teesside Region for future projects, whilst enabling Employers to develop a workforce that meets the demands of tomorrows industry.
Tony Lloyd – ECIA Regional Manager for Northern and Yorkshire has been involved in the development of the Tees Valley Skills Consortium, and has engaged with training providers, local colleges, Employers, and the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA), to map out the skills needs for industry, also support with the establishment of a training pathway, that meets industry requirements.
Since its inception, the consortium has achieved a range of notable successes, which includes the onboarding of 141 scholars and development of an adult learning upskilling programme pathway.
The 141-scholarship programme, has been divided up into various cohort groups; these were established by listening to Employers throughout the Teesside area and understanding the trade disciplines in industry that they were struggling to resource.
The intention is that Employers will be able to review and offer employment to these individuals at the end of the programme, all Scholars will have received industry required skills, training and education inline with the industry discipline, therefore reducing the cost and time an Employer would normally have to invest on a Trainee or an Apprentice.
For the programme to be successful, this is going to require Employers throughout the Region, to look favourably on employing these individuals and completing the next stage of their training requirements, in the workplace.
Looking ahead, there is no reason the Tees Valley Skills Consortium objectives and learnings, could not be expanded to other Regions, throughout the UK and used as a model for bringing the next generation of skilled workers into the industry.
Should any of the ECIA member companies feel that they would like to know more about the programme, please reach out to Tony Lloyd, who will assist in providing further detail.
Would you like to find out how to scale this to your geographical area?
Join us at the ECIA Conference for a dedicated talk by Tony Lloyd and his special guest.
