Terry Weston has been confirmed as Chief Executive of Maritime and Engineering College North West (MECNW) following the retirement of his predecessor, Jim Teasdale, at the end of September.
Jim Teasdale was a founder director and chief executive of Birkenhead-based Maritime and Engineering College North West (MECNW), a charitable foundation set up under his leadership in 1998 to provide apprenticeship training in vocational skills with a particular focus on engineering and marine engineering. Under his direction, the college merged with industry representative body Mersey Maritime - also led by Mr Teasdale – in 2007, bringing together the complementary strengths of each organisation under the newly-formed Mersey Maritime Group umbrella. He steps down leaving both companies in a healthy position.
His successor, Terry Weston, who hails from Liverpool and was previously Skills Director at MECNW, began his own career as an engineering apprentice. He progressed through the automotive industry from apprentice motor vehicle engineer to hold senior management positions in the engine research industry around the UK. Terry’s passion for engineering, and for helping young aspirational engineers to make similar career journeys, is what now inspires him to take the college forward into a new era under his leadership.
Speaking about Jim’s leadership and the future, Terry said “I have worked for and alongside Jim Teasdale since 2007 when Jim returned to the college to form Mersey Maritime Group. His reputation in the business community as a statesman in the maritime and engineering education sector is well deserved. Under his leadership and personal mentorship, encouraging me, as the senior engineer, to drive the college forward, we have positioned the business to be class leading locally and in the national Group Training Association (GTA) network in which we operate and benchmark.
“As a business committed to quality, we started on a journey in 1998 with a commitment to work for the industry and in doing so, create and sustain real career opportunities for local people,” said Mr Weston. “Jim’s contribution to the college’s work doesn’t end here. He will remain a director on the Board of MECNW to champion education issues and continue to support me in my new role as CEO. For my part, I am tasked by the excellent college Board to continue our existing strategy of ‘growth through excellence’.”
MECNW specialises in technical apprenticeships and engineering, safety and management skills solutions for industry, and counts leading employers such as world famous shipyard Cammell Laird, the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board, Peel Ports and the NHS among its clients. It also provides training for over 80 small to medium sized businesses locally.
