10 years of Central European Staffing – Cockenzie Power Station (2006-2008)
Central European Staffing is a UK-based, British-Polish employment agency that specialises in the recruitment of skilled personnel for the engineering construction industry. Central European Staffing Limited was founded in 2004 and now it celebrates its 10th anniversary.
In 2006-2008, Central European Staffing provided temporary workers for annual outages conducted by the Client, Doosan Babcock Energy, in the Cockenzie Power Station, a 1,200 MW coal-fired power station in East Lothian, Scotland.
The workers were recruited in Poland and the staff selection process included practical trade tests conducted in Warsaw, Poland, attended by the Client’s representatives.
The plater candidate during his recruitment test, Warsaw, Poland, March 2007
Key employees in the recruited teams were TIG/MMA welders who, as part of their recruitment procedure, had to weld two carbon steel pipes using TIG (GTAW, 141) and TIG/MMA (GTAW/SMAW, 141/111) welding methods in the 6G/H-L045 position.
Welding trade test, Warsaw, Poland, March 2009
In total, Central European Staffing mobilised over 200 operatives such as welders, pipefitters, platers, riggers and others and it was one of the most successful contracts in the company’s history.
Just in 2009, Central European Staffing tested over 300 candidates for these positions. Tests for all trade groups were conducted simultaneously at a Warsaw-based training and examination centre in accordance with the Client’s strict requirements.
Practical recruitment tests for riggers, Warsaw, Poland, February 2008
Central European Staffing arranged the employees’ flights to the UK. The employees stayed in dedicated houses rented in the Edinburgh area and they commuted to work in rented buses and cars.
Central European Staffing employees during their training before the trip to Tipton, Scotland, May 2008
The contract was subject to the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI), and Central European Staffing, which is a member of the Engineering Construction Industry Association (ECIA), assured full compliance with collective agreements, as confirmed by the audits conducted.
See the photo album Cockenzie 2008
The global economic crisis considerably reduced the number of investments in the UK power generation industry in 2009, which resulted in a declining demand for temporary workers, particularly employees recruited from abroad. The Cockenzie Power Station ceased generating energy in 2013. Since May 2014, the main station has been dismantled and there are plans to replace the station with a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station.
Currently, Central European Staffing employees work in other Engineering Construction Projects in the UK and other countries around the world.
