Metalcraft receives Royal seal of approval
Stainless Metalcraft (Metalcraft) has been named as a recipient of the Princess Royal Training Award in recognition of its investment in the next generation of engineering talent.
It is the second Royal accolade for the Chatteris-based business, which received the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity in April this year.
Now in its fifth year, the Princess Royal Training Awards recognise employers across the United Kingdom with outstanding training and development programmes that have a direct impact on business performance.
Metalcraft – one of 43 organisations to receive the award this year and the only business within the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area – was singled out for praise for the way its apprenticeship programme has reinvigorated its business, reducing the average age of its workforce by 10 years since the scheme was re-energised in 2013, and staving off a potential skills shortage.
Austen Adams, managing director of Avingtrans PLC’s Process Solutions and Rotating Equipment division, said: “We’re really pleased to have received this award, which recognises the investment and hard work the whole team has made to train the next generation of engineering talent, ensuring there are clear pathways into a wide range of engineering careers for local people from a variety of backgrounds.
“Like all organisations, 2020 has been a challenging year for our business but we are confident that investing in the skills and capabilities of our young people holds the key to creating a skilled, agile workforce that will be well placed to navigate the shifting waters ahead.
“While manufacturing at our Chatteris site has continued throughout the pandemic, our apprentices were initially furloughed as limited space meant we couldn’t guarantee a safe working environment. However, we are now beginning to bring them back on site and are looking forward to celebrating this award with them once the whole team returns in October.”
Commenting on this year’s recipients, Kirstie Donnelly MBE, Chief Executive of the City & Guilds Group, which runs the awards, said: “Congratulations to all of the organisations who have achieved the Princess Royal Training Awards standard of excellence this year.
“We know that having a highly skilled workforce will be essential as we start to rebuild our economy post Covid-19, and in increasingly uncertain times making sure we invest in people has never been more important, nor has continuing to showcase the impact it has on organisational success.”
Previous winners of the Princess Royal Training Awards have reported a number of benefits arising from the awards, including increased investment into training programmes, improved recruitment and retention, and getting HR and Learning & Development to the table when it comes to business strategy: all of which will be useful as businesses work towards recovery post-COVID.
