64 DEBATE
Dean Curtis
Maya Ellis
Iain Minton
Lucinda O’Neill Continued from Page 63
IM: Lancashire is a really great hotspot for engineering manufacturing. You’ve got the aerospace and defence cluster, you’ve also got textiles, you’ve now got digital. And you’ve got from the large to the small. Then there’s the academic input through the research centres, there’s innovation.
A lot of what you’d want if you were trying to build a cluster exists in Lancashire, with other things such as shipbuilding very close by. So, our region is really rich in terms of what we are capable of doing for the UK.
For us, as the large prime in the defence sector in the region, it very much is about how we make sure that we are at the forefront.
John Pickervance
real dearth of skills and supply in the country. It’s going to be critical as we move forward.
BW: We are a relatively small manufacturer. Our main raw material used to be made in the north east. Because of what’s happened with the chemical industry in Europe at the moment, that plant’s been shut down and it now comes from Saudi Arabia. There is very little local input into our business
We struggle to find skilled employees. We struggle to find skilled technicians. A number of our operators in our plant come from outside the country and more than half of what we make goes outside the country.
So, it feels very much like we’re an international business based here. With the investments
We have some fantastic cutting-edge businesses here, from the biggest to tiny micro-entities working in cyber
There are a lot of things that go into the MoD spend but when you look at what they purchase as equipment, and take the Typhoon as an example, there’s more than £860m GVA added in the region thanks to that programme.
There are 11,000 jobs in BAE Systems alone and probably more like 30,000-40,000 in the supply chain and third-party businesses supporting them.
There’s a UK view that we need to bring back the skills and supply that we’ve traditionally felt okay to import from those who say they can provide it cheaper. We’re recognising there’s a
we are making we are starting to come across more local businesses we can use in that project, but we don’t feel there is an ecosystem around us.
We see a big gap it comes to the availability of people with the appropriate level of skills to work in a manufacturing environment. There’s a massive shortage of multi-skilled technicians and we really need to be encouraging people to come into the manufacturing world.
For a lot of the roles, we don’t need graduates. We need people with practical skills to be able to work in a manufacturing environment.
Professor Robert Walsh
People who are going to work the line, who are going to work the machines.
JP: There has been mention of being underrepresented when it comes to MoD spend but we’re actually doing work elsewhere. I’ve just jotted down a few countries off the top of my head and over the last two years I’ve advised clients on manufacturing contracts to supply the military in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, the UAE and the USA.
So as a unit we are very strong and there is lots of support in certain areas, such as the international trade club in the east Lancashire chamber, which is a fantastic resource.
How serious is the skills gap and what impact is it having here?
LO: We only set the business up in 2022 and the plan is to strengthen our team. The skills shortage means there needs to be a bigger emphasis on training in all businesses across the board, not just engineering and manufacturing.
DC: Most of our clients, certainly in engineering and manufacturing, are finding it a real problem when it comes to access to skills. At every client meeting it’s generally about supply chain issues, staffing, salary costs and keeping hold of people. They’ are all seeing the same challenges.
AW: We are going to have to do something radically different on skills. BAE Systems big recruitment drive has had an impact across the north of England and that leaves gaps in the supply chain which are increasingly difficult to fill.
We’ve also got National Cyber Force (NCF) coming to Samlesbury, which is a brilliant
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