Science and TechnologyWritten evidence submitted by Bentley Motors Ltd
1. Background Information—Bentley Motors
1.1 Bentley Motors is one of the world’s leading producers of high luxury vehicles. Designed, engineered and manufactured in Crewe, England and exported directly to over 50 markets globally, Bentley cars are amongst the desirable in the world, a symbol of British manufacturing excellence and synonymous with luxury, craftsmanship, quality and engineering excellence.
1.2 Crewe is home to ALL operations. This includes styling, engineering, production (assembly, wood and leather production, engine manufacture), quality, sales and marketing, finance, personnel etc. Bentley employs around 4,000 people in Crewe with a further 15,000 jobs in service and supply areas as well as local businesses dependent on our success and continued levels of employment.
1.3 Bentley is the third largest investor in R&D in the UK automotive sector and in the top 20 of all companies investing in R&D in the UK (Department for Business scorecard 2011). Given the nature of our product and the commitment we have to engineering, we employ over 900 qualified engineers and have a further 500 or so employees directly involved in engineering-related work.
1.4 Since 1998, Bentley has been part of the Volkswagen Group and the investment and capital provided by Volkswagen has been transformational. Over the decade to 2008, Volkswagen invested over £1 billion in the site in Crewe, upgrading facilities and bringing forward new products. This investment helps maintain one of the most highly skilled automotive workforces in the country and expand the range such that we now exports around 80% of what we produce, contributing nearly £1 billion to the UK’s balance of trade every year.
2. Bentley And Engineering Skills Development
2.1 Bentley has always been strongly committed to skills development and apprenticeships and actively promotes careers in the automotive industry. We believe the apprentice system as a way of encouraging young people into the business and developing specific skills through on-the-job training. Bentley also offers adult apprenticeship programmes, available to existing employees seeking to develop their skill set further and progress within the Company. At any given time, approximately 100 apprentices are employed in Crewe.
2.2 In addition, there are always 40 or more graduate trainees participating in a two-year programme and Bentley welcomes around 90 industrial/summer placements and internships each year alongside 150 work experience places.
2.3 Apprentices are seen as future experts. The wood shop apprentice will be a veneer specialist when fully qualified, and will help source the veneers used in our cars from around the world. We also have apprentices in the styling studio, engineering, electrical engineering, press & special, acoustics, quality, trim development, sales & marketing events and public relations, to name a few.
2.4 The company’s commitment to apprenticeships has been widely recognised and rewarded. In 2011 Bentley was named Apprentice Employer of the Year for the North West and finished in the top five places at a national level. Furthermore, the individual success of the apprentices is significant. One of our female apprentices won the Total People Advanced Apprentice of the Year Award and received in December 2010 the Mary George Memorial Prize for Apprentices 2010 awarded by the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) honouring the best female apprentice engineers working in the UK today.
3 Terms of Reference
Does the current engineering skills base meet the needs of employers? Do employers in the engineering sector prefer an academic or a vocational profile?
3.1 There needs to be a balanced approach. From an apprentice perspective, vocational skills are more relevant to our needs. As we require each individual to undertake a practical approach underpinned with theoretical knowledge. This follows with our graduate intake where we look for theoretical engineering skills but with complimentary practical skills.
3.2 Bentley, like other automotive manufacturers, finds it very difficult to recruit in some specific engineering disciplines, particularly (but not exclusively) Electrical/Electronic where there is a real shortage of graduate and experienced engineers. The quality of applicants is frequently poor. We find many graduates lacked a basic understanding of electronic fundamentals. For instance, a simple test we use for all applicants is to draw and explain a very simple transistor switch circuit. The pass rate at this elementary test is generally only 50%. Given the fundamental nature of the test this is a poor reflection of the output of academic institutions.
3.3 Vocational qualifications can offer a clear route to meet these needs as the practical experience is an essential part of an engineer’s acumen. With a very competitive job market, we are becoming ever more reliant on “growing our own”; some of our best Engineers have come through the vocational Apprentice route first, picking up the academic later—this model works well and should be encouraged.
3.4 The increased take-up of more specific Automotive Engineering degrees helps, however their emphasis tends to be more mechanical and powertrain/chassis focussed rather than broader skills such as electrical. Added to this is the fact that, in our experience, graduates have often been guided towards favouring project management—or business skills—over technical skills. These abilities are important aspects of engineering but they are of little or no value if individuals cannot engineer a marketable product
What impact will recent changes relating to engineering qualifications in England have on the uptake of technical subjects and the skills base needed by the engineering sector?
3.5 There is a danger that technical subjects such as design and technology will no longer be taught due to the baccalaureate. This will mean that individuals will have a more generic base of knowledge but no specific skill set. For engineering apprenticeships we recognise that those who have taken practical, technical skills are far more competent in the craft skills we require.
3.6 UTC’s specialising in technical and engineering subjects could provide us with the skill set we need, however UTC’s which deliver diplomas may find less uptake if the decision is made to downgrade diplomas to be equivalent to one GCSE rather than four.
3.7 Furthermore, the downgrading of the relative importance of qualifications like the Engineering Diploma and BTEC goes entirely against the required trend, and could certainly harm the recent (slow) trend towards greater uptake of STEM subjects in schools.
3.8 On a more fundamental level, however, the subjects taught at secondary schools within the curriculum do not necessarily inspire children to careers in engineering. In many instances, the content has not changed significantly in a generation. Business and industry—and therefore society in general—needs more engineers and it is school children—from primary school onwards that must be attracted into this career from an early age. Technical subject teaching does not currently do this as it is too removed from the engineering work typically found in today’s advanced manufacturing workplaces.
How do the approaches taken by the Devolved Administrations to produce a technically skilled workforce differ to the current approach in England? What are the strengths/weakness of the different approaches?
3.9 We do not see any specific differences in output as a result of the different approaches taken by the devolved administrations although it must be said that Wales does seem to be able to access/secure more funding for training particularly around apprenticeship training. Their Alliance sector skills model seems to be the strong driving force behind the skills agenda which seems to be more straightforward to understand than the models available in England.
3.10 A broader point about nationality is that we are seeing reduced number of applications for engineering vacancies from British nationals. We receive increasing numbers of high quality applications from Indian and Chinese nationals—often trained in the best UK Universities.
Could the Government and others do more to raise the status of technical subjects?
3.11 The Government can and should do more to raise the status of technical subjects. The shift in emphasis towards the service industry at the expense of manufacturing in the UK in recent years has led to a decline in the numbers of those considering engineering and manufacturing as a career. Many employers—including Bentley—try to address this with a variety of outreach programmes designed to encourage younger children into considering a career in engineering and manufacturing.
3.12 However, the Government needs to do more to address this problem; to increase the uptake up of STEM subjects in schools and Engineering subjects at University. Many young people still think an “Engineer” is the technician who comes to fix their washing machine, and the rich heritage in the field in the UK is occasionally celebrated, but in truth largely forgotten. The Government therefore needs to raise the profile of Engineering as a worthwhile occupation first, and clearly distinguish it from the more vocational (although clearly no less vital) Technician career route.
3.13 The industry itself could do more. Despite the best efforts of the various professional institutions (IMechE, IET, etc), engineering does not have the profile in this country that it enjoys in Europe, particularly Germany where engineers are regarded as highly as solicitors and doctors are in the UK. Indeed many engineers go on to achieve the highest positions in Companies, positions that tend to be the preserve of finance of management experts in the UK
3.14 Furthermore, the industry must address the leakage of engineering graduates to other sectors especially banking. The high initial salaries offered and potential future remuneration is undoubtedly attractive but Government and industry should work together to promote engineering careers as fulfilling options which offer long term career paths.
3.15 On a more insular note, there are a multitude of professional institutions which represent “engineering”. IMechE, IET, IEE etc all do much to promote their discipline and membership. However, the very fact that there are a multitude of organisations is a weakness. The Committee and the Government would do well to encourage a more joined up approach such that the voice of engineering was louder and clearer.
3.16 By working closely with employers to understand their needs, the Government can ensure we maintain an engineering and manufacturing presence in the UK. Universities have seen smaller class sizes in certain engineering subjects eg electrical so more needs to be done to make these subjects appealing to students. The National Careers Service needs to promote technical skills at school level to ensure young people are aware of the choices and careers open to them
What more should be done to attract and retain a more diverse technically skilled workforce?
3.17 More visibility of careers and progression routes available to students considering undertaking technical subjects should be a priority. In addition, more support for businesses offering apprenticeships and graduate opportunities in technical areas would benefit the employment opportunities for budding engineers. This means financial support for all businesses, to encourage growth, not just SME’s or businesses taking on their first trainee eg Youth contract funding.
3.18 Universities and Government should also work to develop improved degree courses that focus more on the advanced electronic technologies, while still retaining the more traditional “mechanical” ones. The government could also help by facilitating/encouraging sandwich courses or year-out placements in industry during the engineering degree course.
3.19 The “See Inside Manufacturing” initiative—an idea generated by industry and Government to raise awareness of engineering and manufacturing careers has been successful. A number of automotive manufacturers “opened their doors” to students and careers advisors so that they could see some of the skills and work environments typical of modern manufacturing. Such experiences for young people are essential if the UK is to attract and develop the best and brightest into careers in engineering.
June 2012