As the pipeline industry faces its share of challenges, from environmental and sustainability challenges to rising material costs, we caught up with one of our associates, Antonia Wyatt, who is also Chair of the Pipeline Industries Guild (PIG) Midland’s branch, to find out how she believes the Guild is helping the industry to overcome some of them.
“I have been involved with PIG for around 6 years and became Chair of the Midland’s branch in December 2022. The Midlands is a key region in the pipeline industry, with many major projects passing through our patch due to its central location.
“Having been involved in the branch’s Professional Development Network (PDN), for several years before joining the main branch, I saw first-hand how beneficial the Guild can be in helping all sides of the industry come together to share knowledge, experience, and best practices.
“As a Chartered Town Planner, my expertise lies in advising clients about the planning requirements for projects and helping to inform scheme design and pipeline routing based on planning, policy, and environmental constraints. However, as part of my role, I work closely with a broad range of engineers and other consultants, including ecologists, flood risk and archaeology experts, to help deliver projects.
“Whilst not being an engineer, my involvement with PIG has helped to broaden my network and understanding of the various challenges faced by our clients, the engineers designing projects and the contractors who ultimately go on to build the schemes; and this enables me to deliver the best service I can to our clients.
“With challenges such as environmental and sustainability challenges, rising material costs and geopolitical factors being faced by the industry, working collaboratively to deliver projects successfully is now more important than ever.
“Dealing with these challenges isn’t easy, but being part of the Guild can help all individuals and companies involved in delivering pipeline projects to get them over the line through the sharing of knowledge, experience, best practices, and innovations. As in many sectors, training and development is important - equipping people with the right skills is so important for the industry to stay healthy as we move forward.
“The Guild provides a wide variety of networking opportunities alongside a broad variety of technical events, including informative site visits, seminars, and case study events, which encourages all parts of the industry to regularly engage and share knowledge. Guild events are great for getting people talking, sparking ideas, and facilitating discussions about innovative technology and potential problem-solving.
“I would encourage members to attend as many events as possible and embrace the collaborative and supportive nature of the Guild. The branch has some fantastic events coming up, including a webinar about STATS’ BISEP line-stopping tool providing high-integrity temporary isolations for pressurised onshore pipelines, and a site visit to valve manufacturer AVK UK in Corby for a technical training seminar and includes a factory tour of their innovative products.
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