The availability of skilled people continues to be a serious problem for manufacturing companies. The solution is investment in apprenticeships, giving young people an opportunity to develop a career in one of the most dynamic and important sectors of the economy – engineering.
CAI has had an apprenticeship programme for many years. When the CAI management team identified an issue of an aging skilled workforce and low availability of potential replacements, they implemented a rolling apprenticeship programme. This has already proved successful, with many younger fully trained engineers completing their training and joining the main workforce.
Presently, there are two apprentices at CAI, Lewis Nekrews and Selena Massey.
Lewis joined CAI in 2000 and is in the 3rd year and stage 5 of a 4-year engineering apprenticeship at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The Engineering Apprenticeship programmes are developed in collaboration with employers to ensure they meet current career progression needs to match industry requirements. Apprentices develop their professional and technical skills through a combination of university study and work-based learning.
The apprenticeship covers a wide range of skills required within engineering from engineering science through to advanced thermofluid mechanics. In 2021, Lewis received the coveted Engineering Apprentice of the Year from Gower College Swansea.
At CAI, Lewis is one of the design engineers assigned to all marine projects. As part of his training, Lewis has worked in the product paint spray area and is fully trained on the laser cutter and engraver.
Selena joined CAI in October 2022, when she started a four-year course studying for a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (BEng Degree), also at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The programme is designed to enhance industrial relevance by focusing on the practical application of theory whilst maintaining academic rigour. The BEng course will develop an apprentice’s knowledge of both electrical and electronic engineering needed for modern industrial organisations.
At CAI, Selena is shadowing and supporting the software and electronic engineering team.
The skills shortage in the United Kingdom has never been greater, driven by early retirement and the lack of specialist training in previous decades. Apprenticeships provide unique opportunities for employees to develop their careers in the workplace.
“We have had an apprenticeship programme in place for many years,” explained Gavin Roberts, CAI’s Managing Director. “As with many engineering companies, many of our skilled engineers are reaching retirement age and we wanted to develop our next generation of engineers before that happened. Our apprentices bring new life and ideas into the business, whilst gaining valuable knowledge from our experienced engineers. Having an apprenticeship programme is the only way we can ensure that we have the skilled engineers to take our business forward in the future.”
For further information on our apprenticeship programmes or gauge designs for Classic Cars, Electric Cars, Motorcycles and Marine projects, please contact us on:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +44 (0) 1639 732200