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FOCUS FEATURE


MANUFACTURING Supplying the


rail industry with skills


Mark Gadsby (top right) and Edward Johnson (right), directors of Fishbone Solutions, have been supplying engineering and technical project managers to the rail and automotive industry for the past five years. They talked to Business Network about finding it increasingly difficult to find the skills they need, and how to combat this pressing issue.


The skills shortage in the UK has been well documented and is arguably most strongly being felt within the engineering and technology sectors. Five years ago Fishbone Solutions made the decision to


site the business within the incubation hub of Derby University, with both directors having graduated from the excellent industry-linked engineering faculty at the university. The University of Derby has had an incubation hub on


this site for five years, with the aim of providing business support services in an entrepreneurial setting. Fishbone Solutions recognises the value of building


networks of skills and services, most importantly with customers, but also with academic institutions and other


technology companies as they all have one thing in common: a drive to innovate, develop, solve and pass on knowledge. “We saw the potential to fill a gap in the market by


providing high quality engineering services at an affordable cost to Fishbone Solutions customers, while striving to achieve high value for our clients,” said Edward. “At Fishbone Solutions, we believe that charges for our


services are some 20-30% lower than for comparable services across the industries they operate.” “Following the downturn post-2008, the automotive


industry has since grown again and the demand for engineering skills has outstripped the available


Bucking the trend


There can be little doubt that the current political environment is having an effect on long term planning in many market sectors.


But as the cost of imported material has risen to varying degrees, we have found that many of our customers are placing a higher value on locally sourced solutions.


We have always specialised in providing a service which is not simply off the shelf, but offers the end user a product that is designed to meet their specific needs. Whilst this has all of the add-on benefits for us and our customers, the small-run nature of such business has made investment in new plant and equipment difficult to target efficiently.


However, with the help of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Chamber of Commerce, we were directed to a route for a successful grant application. Partly as a result of this, Tennant Rubber has just invested in two new pieces of equipment.


We have replaced an old rubber strip cutter with a brand new machine capable of converting sheet materials of 1mm to 30mm thickness into strips of any width required with very little machine downtime.


These stripped materials are used in markets as far ranging as construction, electronics and pharmaceuticals.


A new venture for us is a new CAD controlled knife cutting table, which will allow us to cut small to medium sized runs of gaskets and 2D shapes very accurately and efficiently. An even more beneficial feature for us is that we will be able to convert from our customers ‘back-of-a-fag-packet’ sketches into finished 3D products with greater visibility during the process and better repeatability in the long term.


2017 certainly offers us greater opportunity and reason for optimism.


Joe Taylor Managing Director


T: 0115 985 2300 F: 0115 988 5320 W: www.tennantrubber.co.uk E: sales@tennantrubber.co.uk


Tennant Rubber Ltd, The Midway Lenton, Nottingham NG7 2TS


38 business network March 2017


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