Just the job

Apprenticeships work wonders for us, says INEOS

2
min DEC 2018

The perception of apprenticeships may finally be changing for the better in many countries. Germany, though, has never lost sight of their importance, and, as such, is the envy of the world.

OVER the years apprenticeships have fallen in and out of favour in many countries.

But as a business, INEOS has never underestimated their importance.

Apprentices are seen as an integral and valuable part of the team from day one.

"I cannot imagine us not running an apprenticeship scheme here," said Dr Anne-Gret Iturriaga Abarzua, Head of Communications at INEOS in Köln, Germany. “They are so integrated and so essential to our future.”

Germany, though, as a country is world-renowned for its job training schemes.

Andrea Hain is head of training at INEOS in Köln.

“Over the years apprentices have become even more important to our future success,” he said. “And their importance is growing.”

In September, 65 young people – handpicked from a starting line-up of about 1,400 applicants – began their apprenticeships at INEOS Köln.

Of those, 12 are being trained for ASK Chemicals in Hilden, Momentive Performance Materials in Leverkusen, Kiel in Dormagen and AkzoNobel in Köln.

Three others are being trained to one day qualify for vocational training for later education.

“Our requirements are high and the training is intensive, but our team of trainers help in so many areas so that they all can achieve their full potential,” said Andreas.

“Today we have 240 young people who are in training – more than ever before,” said Andreas.

Apprentice Scheme at INEOS

Germany is now well versed in attracting and keeping the very best apprentices – and other countries, including the UK and the US, are looking to replicate its job training model.

“We have had a lot of interest from other countries wanting to learn from us,” said Anne-Gret. “We’re almost 20 years ahead.”

In the UK, apprenticeships have, over the years, fallen in and out of favour with many businesses.

But it’s a scenario that Germany does not understand.

“It doesn’t make sense to hop on and off this scheme,” said Anne-Gret. “It doesn’t work and that kind of approach has probably harmed manufacturing in the UK over the years.”

INEOS, though, wherever it operates in the world, has always tried to buck the trend – and seen apprenticeships as invaluable for both the company and the young person.

In September another 10 top-class Modern Apprentices – chosen from hundreds – joined INEOS’ O&P site in Grangemouth, Scotland.

“They offer one of the best apprenticeships in Scotland and I wanted to be part of that,” said Alex Burnett who was 16 when he applied to be a process technician last year.

Fellow apprentice Euan Meikle, 19, is training to become a process operator. He quickly learned that INEOS seeks to recruit the best.

“I was told to treat my apprenticeship as a four-year interview so they can be sure they got the right guy,” he said.

Euan, Alex, and the five other apprentices are now a year into their apprenticeship.

Over the remaining three years, they will earn as they learn, working at INEOS’ plant while studying for the SVQ and HNC in engineering at Forth Valley College.

It’s a partnership that works well and is valued on both sides.

“As well as their expertise in understanding the skills we need, Forth Valley College also understands the business that we are in and that’s important,” said a spokesman for INEOS.

What INEOS was seeking in each apprentice for its Grangemouth site was someone with an interest in science and technology-based subjects and a practical, hands-on approach to problem-solving.

Apprentice Aaron Baxter was among those taken on last year. He is already dreaming of owning his own home and believes with INEOS’ help, he will not only be able to buy it, but he will also learn valuable skills for life.

“I am hoping to be able to use my skill set to do jobs around the house,” he said.

In the same week that the 10 INEOS O&P UK Modern Apprentices joined the company, six apprentices started their careers with Petroineos, Scotland’s only crude oil refinery.

They too will combine academic studies at Forth Valley College with practical experience.

“I was one of the lucky ones to have been given this amazing opportunity to work for one of the biggest engineering companies in the UK last year,” said Andrew Wilson

Apprentice Scheme in the UK INEOS

Seeds Sown in Primary Schools

INEOS in Köln started looking for its stars of the future about 10 years ago – in primary schools.

It began talking to teachers about the importance of inquiry-based science education to excite the minds of children aged six to twelve.

INEOS hopes those early seeds will soon bear fruit.

But INEOS did not just talk to teachers. It adopted and drove the TuWaS! programme, a method of teaching that forces children to ask questions rather than receive ready-made answers and one that is now successfully run in 130 primary and secondary schools.

Dr. Anne-Gret Iturriaga Abarzua, communications manager at INEOS in Köln, has been involved from the outset.

“We really believe that these partnerships formed in 2008 will help us as a company, as an industry and also as a developed industrial country to attract young people – especially girls – who are curious, enthusiastic and motivated to make the world a better place through science,” she said.

INEOS in Köln is the biggest financial supporter in the Rhineland sponsoring almost half of the schools which have adopted the TuWaS! programme.

Teachers attend a one-day seminar during which they are taught the natural science and technical experiments first. They then return to the classroom, armed with a school year’s worth of experiments and the confidence to teach them.

In addition, INEOS employees act as ambassadors, bringing relevance to the school curriculum by welcoming the children to their sites or visiting them in the classroom.

So far the TuWaS! programme has trained 2,500 teachers and, hopefully, inspired 74,000 children to consider a science-based career.

Anne-Gret addresses STEM Professionals in Go Back to School webinars about the need for companies to show young people how exciting life can be working in the science industry.

“We need to be the role models for tomorrow,” she said. “And TuWaS! is a fabulous way to do that. From four schools in 2007, we have now reached 130 schools.”

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EU renews hope of breakthrough

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INEOS set to acquire Ashland’s composite business

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State-of-the-art investment

Once it's built in 2021, most of the chlorine will be used by INEOS Oxide to produce more propylene oxide at its site in Köln. The caustic soda, which manufacturers use to make such things as paper, textiles, drinking water, soaps and detergents, will be sold in Europe to ensure INOVYN's customers don't run out. “This is another major investment that will underpin the sustainability and competitiveness of our business in the long-term,” said CEO Chris Tane. This project is part of a wider investment programme by INOVYN which has seen changes to its membrane cellrooms in Sweden and Belgium and the development of a large-scale potassium hydroxide production plant also in Belgium.

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Grangemouth scales problem

KG Plant Manager Kenny Stevenson said the savings had been achieved through 'significant upgrades and investments' over the past few years to improve the reliability, efficiency and safety of the ethylene plant at its petrochemical complex. "As one of the largest manufacturers in Scotland we are constantly looking for ways to improve our environmental performance," he said. Grangemouth had sought help from GE Water & Process Technologies because it wanted to increase the cycles of its water cooling system. It explained that it was limited to four cycles due to calcium scaling. The solution proved to be a change of dosing products plus a new system which continuously monitored key parameters within the cooling water, these modifications allowing it to increase its cycles from four to eight. GE Water & Process Technologies later presented INEOS O&P UK, which had also just recorded its best-ever safety performance, with a prestigious environmental award in honour of its efforts.

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INEOS helps to make money

It has been supplying the polymer for its new plastic £5 and £10 banknotes. "It is so pleasing to see a new application for an old product," said John Harrison, who manages the customer account that produces the bank notes. The shift to plastic over cotton pulp for banknotes has not only been good news for INEOS’ O&P sites in Scotland and Belgium, though. It has also been good news for The Bank of England which says the new polymer notes are waterproof, cheaper, cleaner, easier to recycle and, more importantly, harder to copy. “In many ways, it is a logical use of plastic that will be appreciated by society,” said Graham MacLennan, Product Manager – Polymers at INEOS Ole ns & Polymers Europe (UK). The new plastic notes are also tougher than their ‘paper’ counterparts and expected to last 2.5 times longer. That, in turn, is better for the environment because fewer will need to be printed. And it’s a fact verified by The Carbon Trust. “The new notes can also survive a spin in the washing machine relatively unscathed,” said John. “But I would not advise ironing them. They will melt.” INEOS manufactures polymer at its sites in Grangemouth and Lillo. The pea-sized granules are then delivered to one of INEOS’ long-standing UK-based customers which melts the granules to make a very thin, see-through and flexible plastic film. That is then coated – at another location – with multiple ink layers that allow The Bank of England to print its design. So far more than 375 million polymer £10 notes have been printed since they were launched on the 200th anniversary of the death of author Jane Austen, who wrote such classic novels as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility and whose portrait is featured on the note. The new £10 has a number of enhanced security features, such as see-through windows, a coloured quill that changes colour when the note is tilted and a silver foil patch containing a hologram. All are designed to make it harder to counterfeit. In countries like Singapore and Australia, polymer banknotes are nothing new. But by making the switch, The Bank of England, which is one of the world’s oldest banks, may well become the catalyst for change around the globe. And that could really be good news for INEOS as one of the major producers of plastic. “Our UK customer sells to all four corners of the earth so there is a great opportunity for them to win business which, in turn, could benefit us,” said Graham.

2 min read

INEOS director’s son qualifies for world championships

Iain Foster was just 16 when he produced the performance of his life to finish second at the Tumbling and Trampoline World Championships in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. “He had only qualified for the final in eighth place in the afternoon session, but he then put out a run that evening that I had never seen before to win the silver medal,” said his father Brian, Director of INEOS Property and INEOS Aviation. Tumbling coach Anne Bidmead said Iain, now 17, regularly trained at Basingstoke Gymnastics Club and was known for his amazing power on the track. But his talent had been spotted many years ago before that when, as a three-year-old, he started attending the club’s weekly gymtots sessions. At five, he was invited to join the boys’ artistic development squad, and began training twice a week. His coach was then international tumbling gymnast David Roy-Wood. Soon he was training four days a week and started to win medals on the floor and vault in regional competitions, finally competing in his first national competition at eight. Rugby became more of a passion when he went to secondary school but it was his continued involvement with gymnastics which gave him deceptive strength and speed – and earned him a place in the Hampshire Rugby Squad. “His PE teacher used to say that Iain loved running through people,” said Brian. That speed and strength also led to a change of direction in the world of gymnastics. “They thought he would be more suited to tumbling,” said Brian. And they were right. In just his second season, he qualified for the two-day British championships in Liverpool – and finished sixth. A year or so later he is now a world medallist. Iain is now juggling the demands of studying A-level chemistry, biology and history while he considers higher education options that could best develop his gymnastics career. “He has sensibly put rugby to one side for the immediate future,” said Brian.

2 min read

John’s mission accomplished

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1 min read

INEOS’ tour de force strikes again

In all, 900 employees from sites all over the world completed the company's very own Tour de France Challenge and raised €31,000 to help children. "The response was inspiring," said John Mayock, INEOS' resident Olympian. “Not only did we raise a huge amount for charity, but many were encouraged to take up cycling for the first time in many years. It was an enormous team effort.” Teams from across INEOS were challenged to match the kilometres covered by the riders in the Tour de France, the world’s most famous cycle race, each day. But being INEOS, they went one better. And by the end of the challenge, the 900 riders had collectively ridden 400,000 km – the equivalent of cycling 10 times around the Earth. As the real riders had chased each other through the French countryside for the coveted title, INEOS’ teams from Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, the US and the UK had been squeezing in their mileage – before, during or after work. INEOS donated £1,000 to the local charity of choice for each team that completed the challenge.

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