NETA’s new director plots next chapter

A Teesside-based engineering training provider is entering a milestone year under new leadership, as its new director prepares to steer major investment and expansion plans.

Karl Johnson has taken on the director role at NETA Training, leading the organisation through a period of significant growth and transformation. 

Central to this is the development of a £14.7 million training centre in Thornaby, alongside preparations for NETA’s 50th anniversary.

The new Thornaby facility, supported in part by £4.5 million from the Town Deal fund and delivered in partnership with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, will expand the organisation’s training offer. 

It is set to provide programmes for school leavers, apprentices and commercial learners across disciplines including welding, fabrication, electrical, mechanical and gas training.

Alongside this, Karl will oversee the continued impact of NETA’s recently opened £4.7 million All Access Academy in Redcar, backed by Levelling Up funding. 

The site enhances capacity in specialist areas such as scaffolding, rope access, rigging and lifting, reflecting demand from key industrial sectors.

Karl, from Hartlepool, who was as a former lecturer at Bede Sixth Form College, in Billingham, said: “Engineering and its surrounding skills are front and centre of Local Skills Improvement Plan priorities. 

“As a training provider on the doorstep of major developments happening in the Tees Valley, for NETA it really is a case of building real skills for real jobs.

“That means continuing to drive standards and quality, growing strategic links with employers and industry leaders.

“And it’s about creating an offer for school leavers, adult learners, the existing workforce and those looking to retrain or upskill, that tackles national skill shortages and creates the workers that employers are crying out for.”

Part of the Education Training Collective, NETA has a long-standing role in supporting heavy industry across the region. 

As it marks five decades of operation, Karl’s focus will be on strengthening links with employers and ensuring training aligns with the needs of a rapidly evolving industrial landscape.

Bringing experience from leadership roles at New College Durham and across the Etc. group, Karl’s appointment signals a continued emphasis on developing skilled workforces to support regional growth.

He added: “It is exciting times for NETA and the whole Education Training Collective, which has just been named one of the Government’s five Clean Energy Technical Excellence Colleges.

“This once again aligns the direction of the skills offer at NETA and the wider college group to ambitions for the Tees Valley to become a net-zero industrial cluster.”

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