Case study
Employers:
Riding high
Will Butler-Adams, MD of Brompton Bicycle, is a Diploma employer champion. Dorothy Lepkowska f_i nds out
how he, and his company, are supporting the qualif_i cation
F SOMEONE asked you to describe enthusiastic rider” and asked to get involved also in matters such as sales and marketing,
I
an engineer, what image would spring with the Diploma in engineering. T_h e which are also relevant to other Diplomas,”
to mind? A bloke in grimy overalls company manufactures the compact, folding Mr Butler-Adams said.
wielding a spanner, or a man in a suit cycles often seen being ridden by commuters “We were not involved in the designing
carrying a briefcase? travelling into the City. and development of the engineering
Probably neither is accurate. But when “We were keen to get involved because Diploma, but I really liked the idea of giving
asked in a survey what the term meant to it was an opportunity to raise awareness young people an insight into the world of
them, a majority of young people thought and present an accurate picture of what commerce through local business networks
of the former – or more specifi cally Kevin engineering is, and to facilitate ways of and putting the networks in touch with
Webster, the mechanic in Coronation Street. getting young people into factories,” he said. schools.
“We don’t seem to have the infrastructure Mr Butler-Adams became a Diploma “What I am trying to do is to think
in this country to make young people aware champion, spreading the word about practically about how small companies can
of what a career in engineering involves,” engineering in schools locally, in west have a bigger impact on education and
said Will Butler-Adams, managing director London, as well as nationally. bringing young people through on a career
of London-based company, Brompton “We wanted to get involved not only in path. T_h e traditional way has always been
Bicycle Ltd. the manufacturing aspects of engineering but for them to host visits and so on, but in a
“In this country, the man who comes
round to fi x the central heating boiler calls
himself an engineer, while in parts of Europe
the term is a title on a par with a doctor.
“Young people here don’t really know what
engineering is all about, even when studying
the subject at GCSE or beyond.”
Two years ago, Brompton was contacted
by what Mr Butler-Adams described as “an
‘
What I am trying to do is to think practically
about how small companies can have a bigger
impact on education and bringing young
people through on a career path
36 Delivering Diplomas • Volume 2 No 1 Spring 2010
36-37 case study.indd 2
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