While the manufacturing industry has been alive recently with optimism and signs of positive growth, a new challenge has been quietly rising in the form of a skills shortage.
This is emphasized by claims that if we don’t act now, by 2020 the UK will face a skills crisis with a shortfall of 400,000 skilled civil, mechanical and electrical engineers.
On Saturday 15th November, one of Caption Data’s founders and Director Paul Sanders was invited to meet with Ed Miliband at Warwick University.
Professor Lord Bhattacharyya welcomed the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP to WMG’s International Manufacturing Centre at the University of Warwick where he hosted an industrial roundtable.
Invited regional SMEs and representatives from Jaguar Land Rover attended the roundtable where Miliband heard first-hand the challenges that both SMEs and global companies face and what they saw as the opportunities for manufacturing in the West Midlands region.
Also taking part in the discussions were Shabana Mahmood MP, Shadow Minister for Treasury, and Liam Byrne MP, Shadow Minister for Universities, Science and Skills.
Caption Data’s headcount has increased by nearly 100% in the last year, and in addition they have participated in 2 Ph.D. Internship programs hosted and facilitated by WMG, validating the performance of their latest Humidity Sensors, as well as taking an early role with Warwick University consultants working on a User Interface/User Experience programme to enhance the CDLSmartHub web portal.
Since then, Ed Miliband MP posted on Facebook, “The next Labour government will seek to put the UK back at the forefront of invention, technology and engineering with a national mission to create an extra 400,000 engineers by 2020.”
Originally published by WMG.
