Our People: Rick

Rick is Head of Technical Training at Penspen, based at our training facility in Neath, Wales. Originally a Gas Service Engineer, sharing his knowledge with other engineers ignited a passion for training and development that’s never left him.  Now, he leads our asset management training team, trusted by major companies and household names to deliver industry-recognised courses to learners. 

In this Our People feature, he tells us about the journey from apprentice to leading Penspen’s training team, as well as how a three-month sabbatical travelling the world gave him a new-found perspective on his return to work. 

I started work as an apprentice with British Gas in 1978, qualifying as a Gas Service Engineer three years later. It was one of two apprenticeships that I was offered upon leaving school. My father thankfully talked me out of taking the other apprenticeship with a local furniture manufacturing company, suggesting that working for the ‘Gas Board’ would be a job for life. He wasn’t far off – here I am, 47 years later, still working in the industry.

Over time, I developed my skills and moved up the ladder, working as a First Call Operative and taking on various secondment roles.  As an engineer, I always enjoyed being able to share my knowledge and experience with other learners, showing them how to undertake complex tasks and build up their own skill sets. That’s where I first discovered my passion for training and developing other people. 

I secured a Technical Trainer role with a gas consultancy company – my first permanent role in training and development. 

After a few years, I went on to become Head of Quality & Funded Learning at a provider of compliance, technical and safety training, before moving back into the energy sector for a national energy supplier as a Programme Delivery Team Leader. I managed learners undertaking power station, electrical, and gas discipline apprenticeships. I loved the fact that I could combine my interest in training and development with my experience in the energy sector. 

Why Penspen?

I took on my current role with Penspen as Head of Technical Training in 2018. I had actually worked for the company previously as a Planning Manager, managing the work scheduling function and supporting the delivery of internal training to our asset management technicians but now I had the opportunity lead their overall training offering. 

A team effort

What am I most proud of so far in my career? My team. 

When I rejoined Penspen seven years ago, we were delivering one training course every six to eight weeks. Now, we’re delivering eight to twelve courses every month, with a catalogue designed to support some of our industry’s biggest challenges. 

That’s purely down to the hard work and determination of our team. The entire training team have worked so hard to develop our training materials, themselves, and most importantly, the experience of every learner that comes through our door. That hard work means we have an NVQ completion rate of around 95% – that’s really impressive.

For me, the main takeaway for my day-to-day working life was the importance of good planning – we took several months to plan our journey to make sure we could tick off as many bucket list items as possible, and to make sure we had all the right visas and vaccinations. In the end, everything ran like clockwork. Another key takeaway was the need to make quality time for yourself and your family, because sometimes it’s too easy to let life’s distractions get in the way. 

Looking to the future

We’re at a critical juncture for the energy industry and our biggest objective in 2025 and beyond is to meet the dual challenge of energy security and energy transition. The Penspen Training team are continuing to develop our training provision, both in terms of our course materials and delivery skills, to support our clients in meeting these challenges. 

A key differentiator for us is that we can harness Penspen’s 70-year engineering heritage, our global experience, and the wealth of talent we have in the business to develop training that meets our clients evolving needs. For example, in 2024, we launched energy transition training courses in Repurposing Pipelines for Hydrogen and CO2 Capture & Transmission. Though these are classroom based, we’re also looking to explore how we can facilitate practical training with hydrogen in the future, considering the health and safety implications of hydrogen storage. We’ve already acquired a few pieces of equipment in preparation for that training, which we’re currently using with a natural gas configuration for now. 

We’ve also seen an increase in requests for bespoke training courses which we’re happy to support, whether in Neath or at client sites.  

I find working in training and development incredibly rewarding. Having new learners arrive for their induction courses on day one and seeing them completing their NVQ diplomas two or three years later as qualified engineers is a great feeling. We’re training the next generation of engineers that are ensuring a consistent energy supply to households across the country. That’s really important, and I take great pride in knowing they’ll  go onto have fulfilling and impactful careers.