Ask any business leader in the UK about their biggest challenges, and top of their list will likely be skills shortages and talent retention. That’s certainly the case with the advanced engineering and manufacturing sector, where many firms say that the lack of qualified workers is holding back growth. This is why an enterprise partnership of business leaders, education providers and local authorities in Norfolk and Suffolk is using Engineering Skills Bootcamps to close the gap and support industry.
Armultra, in Great Yarmouth, is a specialist provider of fabrication and engineering services to clients around the world, including the UK’s strategically important offshore energy sector. Its modern, well equipped 160,000sqft factory has dedicated workshops that can handle both mild steel and exotic metals without cross-contamination. It also has a 12m training tower, so employees can practice rope access and safe working at heights to Global Wind Organisation standards.
As Director Tom Beales explains, business is good, particularly in offshore wind construction and oil and gas rig decommissioning. However, as with many firms in the region, his ability to grow Armultra as fast as he would like is sometimes hampered by the recruitment bottleneck. “We offer well paid jobs across the business, not just on the factory floor but also in the essential support functions such as facilities management, HR and accounts, and yet can struggle to find the right people.”
Tom, though, is not willing to wait for someone else will solve the problem. “The solution has to come from within the industry,” he says, “so when the local sector group, NAAME, proposed running Engineering Skills Bootcamps to grow the talent pool, we said yes. Armultra has benefited significantly from membership of the NAAME network over the last few years, not least from the business contacts we have made, so we were keen to reciprocate by supporting this important project.”
Inspiring and empowering the next generation
While many industries face a similar skills gap, Tom believes that advanced manufacturing and engineering also suffers from a perception problem, particularly among school and college leavers. “It’s a real challenge to get young people to consider a career in the industry. Many think it is dirty, unpleasant work and not particularly dynamic or interesting – which couldn’t be further from the truth.
“The UK is a globally important manufacturing and engineering nation – and the sector offers a fantastic range of careers. Many require transferable skills that will enable you to work in practically any industry and can open opportunities to travel the world, meet great people and earn a decent salary. It’s not just skilled welders, fabricators and technicians that we need either; we also need CAD specialists, health and safety managers, and stock controllers, to name a few.”
The challenge, therefore, is to give people the chance to see these industry opportunities for themselves. That is why NAAME and businesses like ArmUltra took the initiative to develop Engineering Skills Bootcamps with East Coast College in Great Yarmouth, with funding from the Department for Education. These 11-week courses give people hands on experience and introductory training in core skills to help prepare them for work with local employers.
As Tom explains, “The advanced manufacturing and engineering community needs people who are willing to work and have a desire to learn on the job. If people can turn up on time and show interest, then between us – with support from East Coast College – we have the experience to upskill pretty much anyone. Motivation is key, which is why the design of these Skills Bootcamps is so important.
“We need more people in the industry, and we need them quickly. So, the aim is to give the students a good grounding in foundation skills that are relevant to most of the local companies in the sector, to maximise their employment opportunities. It’s not about turning out fully qualified employees but about helping them fit in quickly so they can start work on day one.”
Developing a curriculum that works for students and employers
NAAME and several local businesses worked with Rachel Bunn, Director of Commercial and Community Projects at East Coast College, to refine the curriculum to ensure it covered key objectives. It factored in what the college could teach them in just 11 weeks and what they could gain from site visits to firms like Armultra. As a result, the focus is on topics such as welding, electrical and mechanical engineering, as well as the important matter of health and safety.
Armultra makes a point of offering site visits to all the students. “There were thirteen in the last group who visited us for two days,” says Tom, “and we split them into two groups. One group spent the first day doing their ‘working at height’ and ‘confined spaces’ training and got the certificates to prove it. The second group spent their first day touring our workshops and facilities and practicing welding with our expert tutors and trades people. The two groups then swapped over for day two.
“It was fantastic to see the students’ enthusiasm and interest; they were all well-presented and asked good questions. Overall, it seems they enjoyed the working at height experience on our 12m training tower most of all. In fact, we regularly host work-experience people for a week and around 80% of them always say that working at heights was the best part of the week.”
A great way to get to know potential employees
Tom and his colleagues took the opportunity of the group visits to do some talent spotting. “Our health and safety manager and I had an introductory chat with each of them, during which we scored them, and we asked our working at height and welding tutors to score all of them as well. By combining our scores, we were able to identify five candidates who we felt would be a good addition to our team.
“We then (through the college) invited those five to full interviews and offered jobs to three of them. I am delighted that they all accepted our offer in March 2024 and are still with us. They have all settled in and are doing well, we are delighted with their commitment and attitude to learning on the job. In fact, we are now looking at how to accelerate their training, including talking to Apprenticeships Norfolk about providing further education opportunities for them.”
It is easy for some industry leaders to complain that there are not enough skilled people in the UK. But, as Tom says, they are the only ones with the collective power to really change that. “How are you going to get people into your business,” asks Tom, “if you don’t support this sort of training. It is up to us as an industry to help deliver it, which is why I am delighted that Armultra is involved in this initiative.”
“We are particularly grateful to Rachel Bunn who was really supportive of our plans and central to our discussions about what the Skills Bootcamps should and could cover. She and her team also ensured the students were able to get to our open days and were prepared for the interviews. It would not have been possible to organise a course like this without the involvement of our local college.
“At the same time, we need local businesses to take a chance on employing these people. They can only learn so much in 11 weeks and still have a huge amount to learn after that, so employers need to be prepared to mentor and train the workforce of the future. We will, of course, be looking at new cohorts for further recruits,” concludes Tom, “but are keen to stay involved even if we are not taking people on because this will help build the talent pipeline that is vital to our industry’s success.”
See how Engineering Skills Bootcamps can help you bridge your skills gap
You can find out more about the Engineering Skills Bootcamps at East Coast College. If you run a business in Norfolk or Suffolk and want to know how you can get involved in this or other similar Skills Bootcamps, please contact Skills Broker, Bev Wallman: Bev.Wallman@suffolk.gov.uk.
