46 roundtable: manufacturing & engineering ... continued from previous page


Employers not taking on apprentices due to austerity constraints, had to take some responsibility for the current skills shortage, he admitted.


“Thirty years ago large businesses like Ercol would have taken on serious numbers of apprentices every year and trained them up. I suppose the chickens have come home to roost.


“But, it’s not just about putting an advert in the paper. You have to be prepared to run a full apprentice scheme and train your apprentices properly.”


“Do you partner with Bucks New University?” asked Murray.


Sadly, the university was closing down its graduate furniture course, said Garratt, “…a major blow to ongoing training in our industry. Establishing apprenticeship schemes through the colleges is getting more difficult.”


several universities specialising in media and broadcast courses. (TSL also worked on Media City at Salford). The whole community is just buzzing with media technology. We have no problem finding people and I regularly interview first-class graduates, of whom we can take the pick of the bunch.


“And, they are so bright. Within three months they are useful on projects and within two years they are turning in excellent work, doing their own projects.”


Harrington accepted that skills provision was a big local challenge. While local schools were successfully educating pupils to attain places at universities, where further education was gained outside the region the majority of graduating students found it very difficult to come back to start employment locally.


Constraints such as housing costs were hard to overcome “ ... which is why we are fishing elsewhere,” but “…we have to break the cycle, and we are aiming to do that by coming down the chain and working in schools.”


To help establish the link between local business requirements and career aspirations, the LEP is supporting psychometric testing of pupils, greater awareness of different employment routes, encouragement of entrepreneurial flair and business insight, plus investment in apprenticeship schemes and university technical colleges. “That’s how we can retain the intellectual capital in our area to resource our local businesses.”


Chris Needham


Is manufacturing an attractive career?


Garratt admitted that manufacturing still suffered from a ‘dark satanic mills’ image, and finding school leavers who wanted to make things with their hands was difficult. “But, manufacturing today has really changed. Much of it is cutting edge, high-tech, fast-paced, and I think a terrific place to work for someone leaving school. You just don’t get that message coming out enough.”


Jones agreed that manufacturing had a ‘metal- bashing’ image, “…yet actually today it is quite the opposite.”


Needham: “We are not great at promoting ourselves and publicising our strengths. There is an awful lot of work to do at the grassroots in schools, but also in generally marketing the industry better. We’re all aware, for instance, of the global F1 Grand Prix circuit but we don’t seem to be able to make the link to all the UK high-precision manufacturing and engineering that goes on behind it, and how people get to work in that area.”


Knight accepted that it was easier to recruit talent within the television industry. “For some time we have had very good relationships with


www.businessmag.co.uk


Harrington also highlighted that Buckinghamshire is building more new homes than the national average (1%). Aylesbury Vale added 1,600 housing units last year, about 1.7%. Construction is well below average in other areas, which is why there is a national housing shortage, he explained. “So, we are doing well in the housing stakes around here.”


We’re all here to help


Needham said MAS was becoming increasingly involved with the skills challenge, but businesses should also consult bodies such as the Talent Retention Service, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and local support partnerships, such as BBF.


Meechan suggested one problem businesses had was which organisation to go to for the right information and advice. It wasn’t always clear “on the tin” what everyone did.


Needham said the MAS advisory role was “. . . trying to help businesses with key challenges, put them in the right direction and move their operations forward – but we don’t force things on people”. MAS frequently made professional connections with other local like-minded organizations he added, or referred clients for specific assistance.


Harrington explained that local LEPs had only recently (July 7) been allocated significant growth funding from the Government. This would become available from 2015, and although the LEP expenditure had been approved, flesh still needed to be put on the


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – SEPTEMBER 2014 David Murray


The lengthy recovery from this recession might make people think twice about moving from a job that has provided years of steady employment and income, Garratt added, but, when economic confidence was restored, pressure on wage levels would increase.


With unemployment falling Meechan noted the talent pool was reducing. “I’m worried businesses won’t be able to find anyone suitable to employ and the people they do have will be asking for more money. Add the pensions problems we have been hearing about and you get something like a chaos chain reaction potentially occurring.”


What are your current recruitment needs?


FuelDefend Global: Would like one or two more skilled technical staff. The company aims to grow systems around its core products, moving more from mechanical to electronics.


Ercol: Looking for eight-plus factory staff to help service recently gained orders. Long-term growth is anticipated. Staff numbers are likely to rise accordingly in all departments.


TSL: Seeking three fresh-start graduates, and two project managers with significant experience.


planning bones. “We will be working with others in the coming months, and apologies if the messages aren’t going out clearly yet, but they are being refined and developed.”


Staff retention: Are salaries growing now?


The Roundtable consensus was that most employees understood the need for the ‘age of austerity’, were happy to have a job, and so were not pushing for pay rises.


Garratt said retention of staff might be a problem when the construction sector moved into top gear, because traditionally there was migration out of furniture making into the better-paid building industry. “It’s a double- edged sword because when the building industry starts flying our furniture orders pick up and we need more staff.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60