Scottish OEM Star Refrigeration, an industrial ammonia refrigeration pioneer, has joined the Young Person’s Guarantee (YPG) in Scotland, a government initiative to provide career opportunities for young people between 16 and 24 years old.
The YPG aims to bring together employers, partners and young people. The plan is to connect every 16-to-24- year-old in Scotland to an opportunity, which could be a job, apprenticeship, further education, training or volunteering. More than 400 Scottish employers have signed up.
“”Star Refrigeration are proud supporters of YPG, reinforcing our long- term commitment to offer rewarding and exciting learning and career opportunities to young people within an innovative engineering company,” said Nadia Rae, Group HR Director at Star Refrigeration.
Star is committed to providing apprenticeships, trainee roles and graduate opportunities in the refrigeration industry. For YPG, Star will engage with schools to create work experiences, and encourage young Scots to take up a career in the refrigeration and heat pump sectors.
“We have a great opportunity for work placement within Star Renewable Energy,” Rae said. “The Climate Heroes Work Placement will take place for one1 week during September or October at our head office in Thornliebank.”
“As well as gaining an understanding of the industry, there will be the opportunity to connect with other departments in the company such as Design and Production and learn how vital the role of heat pumps is to decarbonize society and achieve net-zero,” she added.
Visit to river-source heat pump
As part of its efforts, Star Refrigeration is organizing a visit for 11- to-14- year-olds to Queens Quay, the site of Scotland’s largest river-source heat pump. The Queens Quay installation is a 5.2MW (1,479TR) ammonia heat pump system, supplying district heating for more than 1,000 homes, the local town hall and a college.
Star Refrigeration has delivered apprenticeships and training opportunities for young people since the company’s inception in 1970. The company attributes its success to the continuous development of its employees. This has helped Star achieve one of the “highest customer retention and satisfaction rates in the industrial cooling and heating industry,” according to Star Refrigeration’s website.
‘’I have been working at Star for over five years and feel I am a valued member of the team,” said Craig McIntosh, Projects Engineer at Star. “ The most enjoyable thing about working at Star is that there is always someone happy to spend time with you and help you, whether that be with a work problem or university coursework.”
‘’I never thought I would go to university, but Star gave me the support and confidence to do so,” said an unnamed employee, who started her career at Star at age 16,. “Work hard and you can do anything if you put your mind to it.”
In addition to its commitments to educating young people, Star Refrigeration also supports World Refrigeration Day’s STEMAZING initiative. STEMAZING is an international refrigeration training program , aiming to inspire a new generation of female engineers.
“I never thought I would go to university, but Star gave me the support and confidence to do so.”
Star employee
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