New role to spearhead OPITO’s global expansion
4 Sep 2018
Energy industry skills organisation OPITO has appointed its first director of strategic development, with a brief to make its UK-based courses more widely available to the trading body’s international clients.
Mark Cullens (pictured), formerly director of business development, Eastern Hemisphere for Petrofac Training Services said improved access to training would help replace the loss of experienced staff from the sector in recent years.
“I’m looking forward to extending the reach of OPITO to maximise opportunities for the industry around developing their workforces and raising competency,” he explained.
“Globally, this is more important than ever given the experience that has been lost from the industry over the last few years, so improving the quality of the learning experience at the entry level is fundamental to competency during the rest of a person’s career.”
OPITO’s existing world reach is extensive: it provides standards training to an estimated quarter of a million people annually through 200 sites and 45 countries across the globe.
CEO John McDonald said the new role had been created in order to better respond to an international demand that is expected to grow still further.
“OPITO is recognised globally for the standards we set, however there is growing interest in the workforce development programmes that we offer in the UK from other regions and we plan to extend engagement and support to our international stakeholders," stated McDonald.
“Mark has outstanding experience in the development of skills initiatives and we are extremely pleased to welcome him to our leadership team."
