A commitment to developing apprentices has led to Stainless Metalcraft receiving the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
The company, part of Avingtrans PLC’s Process Solutions and Rotating Equipment division, won the award for Promoting Opportunity.
The business, which was founded over 150 years ago, supplies components for performance-critical industries around the world, including medical technologies, oil & gas, nuclear, renewable energy, marine and Big Science. The award recognises Metalcraft’s commitment to increasing social mobility by providing pathways into long-term engineering careers for local people.
Its apprenticeship scheme has operated for over 100 years and was reinvigorated in 2010, since when it has launched the engineering careers of more than 30 young people and helped tackle an impending skills shortage by reducing the average age of the workforce from 54 to 44.
Austen Adams, managing director of Metalcraft, said: “I’m delighted for everyone that their hard work and commitment to creating opportunities for young people has been acknowledged through this award.
“The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are known globally as a marker of quality and outstanding performance so recognition through the scheme provides a real fillip for everyone associated with the business.
“As a former apprentice myself, I’m passionate about creating accessible routes into this rewarding and varied industry and the success of the approach is being felt across the business, as a number of former apprentices move into leadership and management roles.”
While a lot of attention is rightly placed on Metalcraft’s apprenticeship programme, the award also recognises its commitment to raising aspirations, helping engineers to develop their careers, and work to increase diversity in the sector, as well as its commitment to giving back to the local community.
Austen continued: “We are particularly pleased to see growing numbers of women applying for our engineering roles. We currently provide training for double the national average of female apprentices in a STEM-related field and are working closely with local schools to educate all young people about the career opportunities that exist in the industry.
“We are also working hard to develop the skills of employees across the board, empowering them to take their careers to the next level. This includes providing support for further specialist qualifications and funding a former apprentice to undertake a degree.
“Through our Community Fund, we are also able to directly support not-for-profit organisations in the local area, providing financial and ‘in kind’ assistance to the local community beyond the factory gates.”
Metalcraft has been named as a critical supplier during the Covid-19 pandemic and recently refocussed its operations to support key customers in the medical and energy sectors, adopting new shift patterns to enable 24:7 production while adhering to social distancing guidelines.