Groundbreaking ceremony for new centre at CATCH in Stallingborough

The new facility, which is an extension of the CATCH head office and conferencing building, will house a new central atrium, a lecture theatre and an event and breakout space including an AR/VR suite and board room.

The Humber Freeport has provided £4 million in funding towards the industry-backed CATCH expansion programme, which is part of the organisation’s wider plans to scale up the number of engineering construction tradespeople required to build, operate and maintain the UK’s energy security infrastructure.

The expansion, supported by public and private place-based investment, will lead initiatives and projects to build academic partnerships, STEM careers and educational outreach. It will reskill and upskill delegates employed or seeking employment in the Humber industrial cluster where new jobs are being created for the clean power industries and through deployment of new technologies in hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by public sector investors, industry sponsors, CATCH board members and key stakeholders from across the region. Speeches were made by David Talbot, CEO of CATCH; Simon Green, CEO of Humber Freeport; Melanie Onn, Labour MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, and Martin Vickers, Conservative MP for Brigg and Immingham.

Katie Hedges, Chief Strategy Officer at CATCH, said:

“Our new centre will play a vital role in accelerating the Humber’s transition to a low-carbon economy. By supporting our members and new investors, nurturing clean growth businesses, and strengthening our ties with local universities, this facility will not only deliver our core membership services but also create skilled jobs, support supply chain development, and inspire the next generation of industry leaders across our industrial communities.”

Simon Green, CEO of Humber Freeport, said:

“Alongside driving investment through our tax sites, Humber Freeport launched with three key focuses – innovation, decarbonisation and skills.

 

“The expansion of CATCH, supported by significant private-sector investment, will advance the region’s capabilities in all of those areas, creating a talent pool for employers to tap into and ensuring our region has the skilled people it needs to unlock growth.

 

“The Government has published its Industrial Strategy, and within it made one thing very clear – the clean energy transition is the economic opportunity of the 21st century. As the pre-eminent energy cluster in north-west Europe, the scale of opportunity we have in the Humber to drive the UK’s green industrial revolution is enormous.

 

“Humber Freeport is pleased to be supporting CATCH with its ambitious expansion, as we continue to work closely with the organisation and its industrial partners to understand how freeport status can act as a powerful tool to help the Humber achieve its strategic objectives.”

Councillor Phillip Jackson, Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, said:

“This is great news for North East Lincolnshire. It provides great training opportunities for learners in NEL, particularly young people, and prepares them for a future with well paid skilled jobs.

 

“We are very proud of the model where we work in partnership with industry to shape training programmes to meet their needs and focus on where the job growth is. We believe that, in close partnership with the freeport and our new Mayoral Combined County Authority, this is just the start of delivering an improved skills and training offer in our region.”