How did it all start?

Angela Lawlor, CEO

During my 5 years working for a large Automotive Manufacturer I often wondered why there weren't more young people coming into the industry, particularly women. It was during lockdown 2020, having spent some months attending webinars and Zooms around UK Manufacturing that I realised how much the industry was struggling to encourage young people to consider a career within the industry. About the same time I came across a post on LinkedIn about Manufacturing Festivals and thought what a fantastic idea, why don't we have more of these around the country? Surely these would give manufacturers an opportunity to showcase what they do and what career options they have available.

Some months later I held my first webinar "How do we make Manufacturing more attractive to the younger generation?" The overall message which came out of this webinar was lack of engagement by manufacturers along with Careers Leaders lack of knowledge of the industry.

We expect our Careers Leaders to know everything about all careers, but the truth is they don't and we shouldn't expect them to. And because they don't, they only teach what they know. Without engagement from manufacturers our industry will continue to struggle to recruit.

My hope is that Marvelous Manufacturing will help to bridge that gap, by bringing together Schools, Colleges and Universities with manufacturers, Engineering and Manufacturing Associations and training providers.

I am convinced that by working together we can help to create better and brighter career choices for future generations.