Investing in our future engineers - apprenticeships
Following an invitation from Andy England, Managing Director of CTL Seal, a steel fabricator based in Ecclesfield, I was pleased to be able to visit the Clan Project, a project to build a new steam train in Sheffield.
Andy explained that the Class 6 CLAN ‘Pacific’ Locomotives were part of the British Railways post-war modernisation plans.. The first batch of 10 CLANs were built, with a further 15 put into production. The frames for the 11th locomotive were produced, but, amidst calls for dieselisation, production was stopped and sadly the frames were scrapped.
However, The Standard Steam Locomotive Company Limited - the parent company for ‘The CLAN Project’, is now building the ‘lost’ 11th CLAN, ‘HENGIST’, which will be based on the original design and will become the 1,000th British Railways Standard locomotive to be completed.
Throughout my visit Andy talked to me about his pride in being associated with this historic project:
“As we build this classic 1950s Steam Locomotive - we will also incorporate a touch of modern design and engineering technology to bring it into the 21st Century - where rules and regulations have moved on. This means, HENGIST will be able to pull passenger trains at ‘high-speed’ on the main lines of the UK, whilst also paying for its keep.
Each of CTL Seal’s shop floors - Fabrication, Profiling, Machine and Assembly are actively involved in this project. And importantly, The Standard Steam Locomotive team have agreed to give CTL Seal apprentices a chance to become involved with this project as part of their ongoing training programme.”
Andy went on to talk about his passion for engineering but also his concerns about the long known UK shortfall in skilled engineers.
I was surprised to learn about the sheer scale of the shortage of qualified engineers facing the UK, this is estimated to be around 59,000 engineers and technicians with level 3+ skills per annum. In addition, around 19.5% of our working engineers are set to retire by 2026. Set alongside the Government’s ambitious industrial strategy, and net zero challenge, it’s clear that without change the UK’s engineering skills gap can only worsen.
There are a multitude of interconnected reasons why we have a shortfall in engineers, perhaps because the sector has been portrayed as being more about dirty factories and less about the highly skilled, highly in-demand, highly paid, jobs of the future. Or maybe it's because other sectors have just worked harder to showcase their career opportunities. Whatever the reason, I share Andy’s view that one solution to this problem is through improvements in the design and delivery of engineering apprenticeship programmes.
Whilst plenty has already been done, with excellent examples of industry, government and academia working together to develop our future engineers, not least at Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre. CTL is confident that there’s a case for the development of a more structured national approach to engineering apprenticeships which could be delivered through a dedicated digital platform.
CTL have long been advocates of this idea of a national digital platform for apprentice engineers believing that this approach could help increase the number of high quality traineeships available by allowing:
- directors and managers to be better prepared for the development of apprenticeship programmes
- companies to have access to better opportunities to offer apprentices regardless of size
- Online digital training solutions to be designed to make workplace training and development easier and more cost-effective for employers and assessors
- better synergy between local engineering companies, educators and potential engineers
This is just the sort of approach that could help get more young people into productive jobs, whilst providing skills for a sector that is unquestionably facing a damaging shortage of adequately trained people.
Whilst the effects of the pandemic are expected to affect industry for some time to come, there’s no question that engineering will play a key role in the Government’s strategy to build back better. So I support initiatives that could create better ways to facilitate collaboration between our local businesses, academic institutions and Government.
Penistone and Stocksbridge has a rich industrial heritage and we must build on that by investing in the skills and training local people need to get the high value jobs they deserve.
