Shropshire conference hears ways to bridge skills gap

Influencing children at a younger age in primary school and a higher quality of work experience were just two of the ideas discussed in a debate chaired by Ray O’Donoghue, Barclays’ head of Midlands corporate banking.

Other proposals included giving teachers more industry knowledge, improving the image of modern industry, and combining academic and vocational education to produce better-prepared workers for the engineering and manufacturing sectors.

More than 100 people who attended the conference at the Marches Centre of Manufacturing & Technology in Bridgnorth on January 17 were told how a recent Barclays’ report into skills revealed just six per cent of 16 to 23-year-olds were contemplating a future in industry.

In asking a panel of experts for their views, Mr O’Donoghue said: “It’s clear that there’s a mis-match between young people’s perceptions of manufacturing and the reality of what a great career the industrial sector can provide.”

Alan Lusty, chief executive of adi Group, an engineering firm based in the West Midlands, said his company was pioneering a pre-apprenticeship programme for 14-year-olds that saw children spending half a day a week in his factories for two years.

He said: “By 2021, adi Group alone will need to almost double its workforce which means finding up to 500 skilled apprentices, workers and potential engineers in the next three years.

“Our pre-apprenticeship programme working with North Bromsgrove High School saw the first 10 children graduate in 2017 and 50 per cent of them are now working for adi Group as apprentices. The proven model is now in its third year and is something other companies can follow.”

Mr Lusty added that the best time to catch a child’s imagination is at the age of four or five and that the eventual aim of adi Group was to work with primary schools to influence younger children.

Frank Myers MBE, an engineer and business boss who is now chair of Herefordshire Business Board, agreed that the real need was to get to children “way before” they reached 14 because at that age many had “already decided” on career paths.

Matthew Snelson, managing director of the Marches Centre of Manufacturing & Technology, added: “The skills gap is an issue we all need to address, whether you are a young person, an employer, a school, college, university or even a member of the Government. We need to get the disengaged engaged and this starts with changing industry’s image.

“Manufacturing is robotics, it’s CAD/CAM systems, it’s precision CNC machines, it’s playing a role in making sure F1 cars get faster, aeroplanes are lighter, people can walk again – all played out in bright factories.

“When young people, teachers and businesses visit MCMT there’s a wow factor, with over £4 million spent on the latest CNC machines, metrology, robotics and automation. It’s this we need to harness.

“We are delighted that Barclays' National Manufacturing Conference convened at MCMT, where two of our apprentices spoke eloquently about how it has been the right decision to take the apprentice route rather than direct university entry, quoting both the hands-on experience gained and the financial benefits they have enjoyed.”