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Leaders in the pump industry have pooled together with plans to provide essential resources and equipment for one of the North East’s leading technical training providers.

Headed up by Billingham based pump manufacturer and distributor – Tomlinson Hall – the business has joined forces with three of the world’s biggest investors in pump research and development to supply equipment to NETA Training Group as part of the training providers ambitious plans to upgrade its facilities.

The idea behind the initiative – which will see world leading pump manufacturers Crane ChemPharma & Energy, ITT Goulds Pumps and Grundfos work alongside Tomlinson Hall – is to provide the opportunity for students to gain first-hand experience of how up to date pump technologies work.

Speaking about the initiative, David Thompson, Strategic Business Development Coordinator at NETA said: “We are delighted that Tomlinson Hall has worked together with its suppliers to bring this initiative to the table. With thousands of different pumps on the market it is essential that our students have a solid understanding of what various pumps are made from, why that material has been chosen and the different fluids that they can handle.

“Through having experience with handling some of the best pumps on the market – that all serve different purposes – our students will benefit from first hand experience ultimately increasing their knowledge.

“We are keen to update the facilities to set them up like a real-life working scenario allowing students to not only learn their craft, but also prepare them for working in a business, ensuring the transition from training into a working environment is seamless.”

Tomlinson Hall is already underway in repairing and refurbishing a series of pumps currently being housed in the training facilities to upgrade them to suitable working conditions. The three manufacturers – that offer different pump technologies – will also be providing various pumps to the facilities over the course of the next few months.

The training provider has plans to create a pump area that will be piped up for the students to use the different pumps supplied.

ITT Goulds Pumps has also committed to offer training days for the students at NETA, based in Stockton-on-Tees. This will involve the students visiting the company’s new state of the art facilities located in Normanton which has the capacity to hold up to 50 students.

Speaking about the ongoing partnership, Colin Simpson, Business Development Director at Tomlinson Hall said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the four companies to provide the chance for young talent to have exposure to leading global brands through local distribution.

“We recognise the importance in equipping the next generation of budding engineers with the right tools to ensure their learning is the very best it can be. NETA has a proven track record in delivering technical training programmes to the very highest standards and, as such, we are delighted to be able to support in providing equipment for students to learn from.

“We are in an excellent position to launch this initiative having forged very strong relationships with our global pump manufacturers allowing us to leverage this opportunity of continued support whilst giving back and investing in the local community.”

Established in 1919, Tomlinson Hall is a long-standing distributor of major industrial pump brands. The company also manufactures its Liquivac pump from its facilities in Billingham comprising two workshops on a 1.5-acre site. Providing a full end to end service from pump selection, supply and site visits right through to servicing and re-pairs, the company has worked with leading businesses across Europe, the Middle East, North America, South America and Asia.

NETA Training Group was founded in 1975 to provide technical training service to the local engineering, offshore and petrochemical industries. The group is fully accredited with a number of awarding bodies including City & Guilds, CITB, ECITB, RTITB, LEEA, Lloyds, LOGIC, JTL and NET.