Attracting, retaining and developing the talent needed to ensure the continued growth of the UK automotive industry will be the focus of discussion at the SMMT’s International Automotive Summit (12 June) in the Bridging the Skills Gap session, part of the Growth in the Supply Chain stream, supported by KPMG LLP.
The session, to be chaired by the Automotive Council’s Co-Chair, Richard Parry Jones, will feature speakers from Bentley Motors, Controlled Power Technologies and Unipart Manufacturing who will each outline the work their companies are doing to attract the brightest talent into the automotive sector.
Opening the session, Christine Gaskell MBE, Member of Board, Personnel, Bentley Motors, will stress the need for developing consistently high standards in training to develop the existing workforce as well as the importance of continuing to attract talent to manufacturing and engineering through apprenticeships and other vocational schemes.
Nick Pascoe, Chief Executive, Control Power Technologies, will follow, outlining the work CPT is undertaking to recruit engineers from within the UK following the spin out of part of its engineering team to Valeo; both entities need to grow rapidly to establish world-class centres of excellence in hybrid vehicle technology. His speech will emphasise the challenge not just in finding talent, but in finding engineers with the right skills right now or risk the potential for supplier R&D activity to be lost to non-UK based businesses.
Closing the presentations, Unipart Manufacturing’s HR Director, Julie Carroll, will explain the company’s training and development ethos – to give all employees the support and experience to make them great at their specific role. She’ll also discuss Unipart’s approach to engaging with young people in a bid to attract them into the manufacturing sector, leading to a discussion about how automotive can compete with other industries in the employment arena.
Along with opening keynote speeches from Ian Robertson, BMW Board Member, Global Sales and Marketing, and Peter Tyroller, Board of Management, Robert Bosch GmbH, experienced heads from the world of automotive will be seated on the panels for other streams at the Summit covering The changing face of vehicle retail, supported by GForces Web Management, and Innovation in ultra-low carbon, supported by EDF.
The demand for tickets at the Summit has been significant and all allocated tickets have now been sold. Anyone wishing to attend should e-mail summit@smmt.co.uk to be added to the waiting list for tickets that become available.
To discuss advertising, exhibition and sponsorship opportunities, please contact 0808 178 8818 or summit@smmt.co.uk.The event will be held alongside the Canary Wharf Motorexpo, which runs from 11-17 June.
