Billingham’s Johnson Matthey receives skills honour
7th October 2014
Billingham-based catalyst manufacturer, Johnson Matthey, has been recognised for its commitment to skills and training by the professional body for the chemical and process industries – the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).
Johnson Matthey was presented with its accolade – Corporate Partnership – by IChemE’s deputy chief executive, Justin Blades, at a ceremony on 7 October 2014.
The Corporate Partnership initiative provides an independent assessment of training, skills and talent management programmes in diverse and demanding sectors such as oil, gas, pharmaceuticals, power, water and mining industries.
Johnson Matthey received its Bronze Corporate Partnership award in recognition of its high quality professional development programmes led by Bill Cotton, Graham Hinton and Liz Garry, and its long-term investment in its process engineering teams.
IChemE’s Justin Blades said: “Johnson Matthey operates in a highly skilled and demanding business sector, where investment in their chemical engineering talent is vital to their long-term success.
“Their investment includes supporting campaigns to promote the profession to the next generation of chemical and process engineers, and developing their own talent through an outstanding five-year programme – called the Process Engineer Development Programme – which provides a brilliant platform for their graduate chemical engineers to achieve some of the highest professional standards.
“The Institution of Chemical Engineers is extremely pleased to publicly recognise their achievements and welcome them to an exclusive group of organisations that have met the required standard.”
Business engineering manager Mark Linthwaite said: “At Johnson Matthey we are proud of our long history of investing in our people - as they are the lifeblood of our business.
'We run a wide range of programmes to support those undertaking qualifications in the STEM subjects and to encourage interest in these areas from an early age. It is wonderful to see that our commitment to these programmes has been recognised in this way by IChemE.”
Johnson Matthey employs a team of around 90 chemical and process engineers at its Billingham site. The team plays an import role in the manufacture of catalysts, absorbents, services and technology for the production of ammonia, methanol, hydrogen, gas purification and refinery, gas and liquid purification.