Teesside business leaders are among those sending a call to action for Government to ramp up support for SME manufacturing and engineering firms in the North-east.
A Roundtable event, hosted by accountancy firm Tait Walker, saw issues such as industry perception, the education experience gap and upskilling of existing workforces take centre stage.
Chairman of Ford Aerospace and ambassador for North East manufacturing, Geoff Ford, was joined by representatives including from Redcar-based ElringKlinger (GB) and Tees Valley Unlimited for the aptly named ‘People Agenda’ session.
A report outlining key findings - and a framework for future manufacturing support - will now be delivered to both local and national bodies.
Ian Malcolm, managing director of Redcar-based automotive parts manufacturer Elring-Klinger GB, said: “Recruitment is an ongoing and increasingly worrying issue for the sector. Engineering is viewed as a desirable profession across Europe and further afield, yet closer to home the statistics are worrying, with around 60 percent of graduates not actually going on to take up work in the industry. This, combined with the sometimes confused and underplayed teaching of engineering as a topic in schools, draws into serious question the current perception of manufacturing as a career choice.
“As industry ambassadors it is our responsibility to work with local education providers to ensure academic application of manufacturing in the real world. The opportunities are many and they are there for the taking.”
Andrew Moorby, managing partner at Tait Walker, said: “The skills gap is clearly something our manufacturers feel very passionately about.
“They are taking steps to create their own academies and training facilities to try and fill the workforce void, which is becoming more and more key to this industry. We are privileged to have been able to drive an event like this and we’re committed to turning the session into positive actions.”
Paul Stewart, managing director of North Tyneside-based Chirton Engineering Ltd, said: “We have an advanced machine academy set to launch in 2015, however one of the biggest barriers to getting this off the ground is access to funding and investment from Government. Without this essential support from Whitehall, our dream to have a ‘conveyer belt of talent’ feeding into the North East’s manufacturing industry hangs in the balance.”
Andrew Moorby added: “Whilst there are clearly concerns with issues which are difficult to fix in the short term – such as the skills gap, education and funding – the passion and commitment demonstrated by the attendees strongly indicates that, as a region, we can make a difference in the long term.
“Off the back of the roundtable’s report findings, Tait Walker will be trying to push for a combined effort from Government and local SMEs to really focus on how we bring new talent to our regions manufacturing businesses and how we upskill our existing workforce”.
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