Richard Appears on ITV News

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Warren’s Founder Owner, Richard Bridgman recently found himself in front of the cameras, for an interview with ITV News.

The opportunity came about when Richard’s friend, Gina Long MBE was approached by ITV to be filmed at her home for a feature on the Honours List. As there wasn’t enough airtime available for both of them, Gina kindly suggested Richard, and the filming took place at her house.

Richard admits the process was quite daunting:

“It’s a strange experience having a camera right in your face. The filming takes a long time, but so much gets cut down – so it can end up as just a few minutes on screen.”

The feature reflected on the significance of receiving an Honour. Richard was awarded his OBE by the late Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of his work over many years to support apprenticeships both locally and nationally. Today, the tradition continues under King Charles.

Richard says he was humbled to be recognised:

“When I received the letter from the Queen, I felt that I knew others who were far more deserving than me. I feel many get an Honour just for doing their job, and this needs to change. Let’s hope that more recognition is given to people who have dedicated their lives to something they’re passionate about. I must admit though, it was one of the proudest days of my life.”

Richard was accompanied to Buckingham Palace by his wife Sharon and their children, where his medal was presented by Prince William. After the ceremony, the celebrations continued with a lunch surrounded by 16 family members and friends.

📺 You can watch Richard’s ITV News appearance  below (skip to just after 6 minutes in).

Goodbye to Alistair Newey

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After five fantastic years with Warren, we are saying farewell to Alistair Newey, who joined us as a young apprentice and has since grown into a valued member of the team.

Alistair came to Warren after completing just one year of A-Levels and realising that academic study wasn’t the right path for him. From our very first meeting, it was clear he had something special – and we were delighted to offer him the chance to start a Level 3 Engineering Apprenticeship with us.

From day one, Alistair impressed us. He excelled both academically and on the shop floor, handing in work on time and showing real commitment to learning. He quickly became popular within the business and found his stride in the technical department, learning from mentors Robin Foyle and Nick Claydon.

When Nick moved on, Alistair stepped up with confidence, taking on greater responsibility with the Tech-Grocer account. Beyond his day-to-day work, he’s been an incredible advocate for engineering, supporting the next generation by:

  • Helping run weekly Design & Technology lessons alongside Jed
  • Supporting local GCSE classes
  • Representing Warren at careers events and school tours

His dedication to promoting opportunities in engineering has left a lasting impact, both within our business and in the wider community.

On behalf of everyone at Warren, we’d like to thank Alistair for his hard work, professionalism and enthusiasm over the last five years. He’s been a credit to himself and to our apprenticeship programme.

We wish him every success in his next chapter – and we have no doubt he’ll continue to do brilliantly in whatever he sets his mind to.

Enginuity Skills Awards 2025: A Memorable Evening for Warren’s Founder

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On 3rd July, Warren’s Founder Owner, Richard Bridgman attended the prestigious Enginuity Skills Awards in London as a special guest. Hosted by Enginuity. the charity dedicated to closing the skills gap in UK engineering and manufacturing – this event brought together leading businesses, apprentices, and educators to celebrate excellence and innovation in skills development.

Richard’s journey to the event began with a train from Cambridge North to King’s Cross, followed by the Tube to Vauxhall.
“I felt a bit out of place travelling in my dinner suit, especially on a very hot afternoon,” Richard reflected.

After a 15-minute walk from the tube station to the venue, Richard arrived at a packed awards ceremony with more than 300 prize winners and guests. By a stroke of luck, he immediately bumped into Phil Smith CBE – the evening’s keynote speaker and recently appointed Chair of Skills England, working directly with government to shape skills policy. The evening also provided a chance to catch up with Fiona McGarry, Warren’s primary contact at Enginuity.

The pre-dinner drinks reception was a valuable opportunity for Richard to network and reconnect with friends and colleagues, many of whom he hadn’t seen for some time. He was seated at the table of EAL – the organisation responsible for setting qualifications, standards and assessments for apprenticeships – who had kindly extended the invitation.

As the evening unfolded, guests enjoyed a well-prepared meal, as well as speeches and awards recognising outstanding achievements by both businesses and individual student prize winners. After dinner, Richard took the opportunity to meet the head trainer from BAE Systems, one of the UK’s largest apprenticeship providers, who train thousands of apprentices annually.

The journey home, however, provided its own memorable twist! After leaving the event at 11:15pm, Richard made his way back to King’s Cross only to discover that his ticket for the 12:10 train was valid for 12:10pm — not 12:10am.
“I started to panic,” Richard admitted, “but luckily managed to buy another ticket. Unfortunately, that only got me as far as Cambridge Central. The whole journey back I was worrying about whether I’d be able to get a taxi to Cambridge North… but thankfully, I did. I finally arrived home at 2:15am.”

His eventful night didn’t end there – Richard was up again at 6:00am the next morning, taking his granddaughter to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for her work experience placement.

Despite the late-night travel saga, Richard summed up the event as a valuable and rewarding evening, reinforcing Warren’s commitment to supporting skills development and recognising the vital role apprenticeships play in strengthening the future of UK manufacturing and engineering.

Estee visits the House of Lords for Apprenticeship celebration

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Thursday 12th June was a proud and exciting day for Warren, as our HR Director, Estee Ross was invited to attend the Apprenticeships Ambassador Network Celebration at the prestigious House of Lords in London.

The event, which had been postponed from 2024 due to the general election, finally took place on a beautiful sunny day in the capital. It was a fitting setting to recognise the ongoing efforts of organisations like Warren that are actively promoting apprenticeships across Norfolk and beyond.

Estee said:

“It was such a special moment to be at the House of Lords – what a fantastic building! It’s actually much bigger than I imagined. I felt truly honoured to be there, representing Warren and all the work we’ve done to support apprenticeships in our region.”

Estee was invited by The Rt Hon Baroness Smith of Malvern, who unfortunately had to send her apologies on the day, as she was required in the House of Commons. Nonetheless, the event was a great success, with guests from across the apprenticeship community coming together to share ideas and celebrate progress.

Estee was also able to catch up with Lisa Peter from Norfolk Apprenticeships, whose support has been invaluable over the past few years – especially in helping Warren benefit from Levy sharing arrangements with larger employers to support the cost of training.

One exciting announcement from the day was the confirmed date for the next National Apprenticeship Week:
9th–15th February 2026 – a key date for the diary as Warren continues to champion skills development and opportunity through apprenticeships.

Congratulations to Estee on being recognised at such a significant event – and thank you for continuing to fly the flag for apprenticeships and future talent at Warren.

Wishing Colin Browne a happy retirement

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On 31st May, we said goodbye to a much-valued colleague and friend as Colin Browne officially retired from Warren.

Colin’s relationship with Warren goes back much further than his time as a team member. Our Founder and Owner, Richard Bridgman had known Colin for many years through his leadership at Allaway Acoustics, a company just round the corner from Warren. Over the years, the two businesses worked closely together, developing a strong and trusted partnership – with Colin playing a major role in that relationship.

During his time at Allaway, Colin helped grow the company significantly, both in size and turnover, becoming a respected figure in the local manufacturing community.

When Allaway went through a restructure, it came as a surprise to many – including Colin – that he found himself without a role. But Colin wasn’t ready to take life easy just yet. Looking for a less demanding position, and keen to stay active, he joined Warren’s Paint Department, focusing primarily on Powder Coating.

His transition from business leader to hands-on team member showed the same commitment and work ethic he had always demonstrated. He quickly became a reliable and well-liked member of the Warren team.

Colin had hoped to return after a recent operation, working reduced hours as a way to ease into retirement. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go to plan, and Colin made the decision to retire completely.

While we’re sad to see him go, we are incredibly grateful for the time he spent with us, and for the energy, knowledge and dedication he brought to the business.

Richard Bridgman shared a few words:

“Colin has been a great supporter and friend of Warren for many years. It was a pleasure to have him with us during the final phase of his career, and I want to personally thank him for everything he’s contributed – both as a client and colleague. We wish him the very best for a happy and well-earned retirement.”

Thank you Colin, for your hard work, your good humour and the legacy you leave behind. Enjoy your retirement – you’ve truly earned it.

Apprenticeship success for Wiktoria!

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Congratulations to Wiktoria, who has officially passed her Level 2 Welder Apprenticeship – and not just passed, but achieved a Merit, the highest possible grade for her course!

This is a fantastic achievement and a proud moment for both Wiktoria and the entire team at Warren.

Wiktoria was among the first four apprentices to train on site at Swarm REAGIT. It’s never easy being first, but Wiktoria rose to the challenge with resilience, determination and a real passion for engineering.

The team at Swarm REAGIT shared the good news with a celebratory LinkedIn post – see screenshot below.

Wiktoria’s success reflects not only her hard work and commitment, but also the strength of the apprenticeship programme we’re proud to be part of here at Warren. She is now well-positioned to begin the next chapter of her engineering career.

We’re especially proud to see more young women like Wiktoria stepping into technical roles and excelling. Her achievement is an inspiration to others and a reminder of the opportunities available in modern manufacturing.

Well done, Wiktoria – we’re all incredibly proud of you and here’s to a future filled with sparks, skills and continued success!

Warren hosts Make UK East of England Advisory Board meeting

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In March, Warren was proud to host the latest meeting of the Make UK East of England Advisory Board – bringing together representatives from manufacturing and engineering companies across the region.

The event was well attended, with businesses of all sizes joining us at our premises for an afternoon of discussion, collaboration and knowledge sharing. As long-standing members of Make UK – dating back to our days in Feltwell when it was known as the EEF, we value the opportunity to stay connected with the wider industry and help shape its future.

These advisory board meetings take place several times a year and serve as a forum for member companies to discuss a broad range of industry matters. Topics on the agenda typically include current business challenges, investment plans, wages, training, health and safety and available grants.

It’s a valuable opportunity to share insights, learn from each other’s experiences and explore how regional and national trends are affecting businesses across the sector.

As is tradition at these meetings, the host company gives a short presentation to introduce their business to the group. We were pleased to share our story with fellow members – from our early beginnings to our growth, our commitment to apprenticeships and training and our ongoing investment in people and technology.

Following the meeting, attendees were invited on a guided tour of our facilities to get a closer look at how we work and see our operations in action.

We’re always glad to play an active role in the regional manufacturing community, and hosting the Make UK Advisory Board meeting was a great opportunity to strengthen those ties. Our thanks to all who attended and contributed to the discussion – we look forward to seeing everyone again at the next meeting.

Skills for success – Warren takes a stand on training and apprenticeships

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We at Warren have long recognised a challenge that continues to impact our industry – the national shortage of skills across all areas of manufacturing and engineering. While there’s no shortage of meetings, reports and initiatives set up to tackle the issue, lasting change still feels frustratingly slow.

Recently, Make UK and the Government launched a new Skills Commission, bringing together influential voices from education, manufacturing and Parliament, including Lords, policy makers and senior figures in industry. While the creation of another commission might raise a few eyebrows, we took the opportunity to make our voice heard in a different way.

Not another survey…

Rather than simply ticking boxes on the Commission’s initial survey, we decided to take a more direct approach. We told our story. We shared how Warren began, how we built our apprenticeship programme from the ground up and what we’ve learned – the successes, the challenges, and the reality of training in a fast-changing industry.

This honest, first-hand account was shared with members of the Commission and made its way into the right hands.

Warren welcomes the Commission

As a result, on 13th March we were proud to welcome a delegation from the Industrial Strategy Skills Commission to Warren. The visit was led by the Chair of the Commission, the Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, who spent time learning about our approach to skills and training.

He and the team met with both current and former apprentices, gaining valuable insight into the practical realities of developing talent in the manufacturing sector. It was a great opportunity for open dialogue and we’re proud to say, they were very impressed with what they saw and heard.

We also took the opportunity to recommend a visit to West Suffolk College – our long-standing training partner, so they could see the full picture of how local collaboration plays a vital role in delivering real training outcomes.

A mention in Westminster

Following the visit, Warren was invited to attend the official presentation of the Commission’s final report at Make UK headquarters in Westminster on 1st April. The report is a weighty one, but we were pleased to see Warren mentioned several times throughout the document, a real acknowledgement of the work we’ve put in over the years.

Will things change?

So, will this Commission lead to real change? We remain cautiously sceptical. Too often, these initiatives generate discussion but little action. But one thing’s certain, Warren will continue doing what we’ve always done: investing in people, developing skills, and creating opportunities for the next generation of engineers.

We’ll keep doing our bit. And we’re proud to share our story, if it helps inspire others to do the same.

MTC Event in Coventry: Insights, Debate, and Exciting Opportunities

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Earlier this month, our Managing Director, Will Bridgman and Founder Owner, Richard Bridgman headed to the MTC (Manufacturing Technologies Centre) in Coventry for a major industry event. The trip followed a late night in Cambridge, entertaining potential clients with exciting project opportunities for Warren. The previous day had also been packed with activity, as Will followed up on defence sector contacts in Norwich, culminating in a meeting with the Defence Minister – a key step in Warren’s growing involvement in the sector.

What is the MTC?

The MTC provides transformative manufacturing advice to businesses across the UK, helping to drive innovation, efficiency and sustainability in the industry. The event brought together manufacturers from across the country, providing valuable networking opportunities and discussions on the future of UK manufacturing.

Will Bridgman on the Sustainability Panel

Will was invited to take part in a panel discussion in the auditorium, covering sustainability in manufacturing—a subject that is becoming increasingly critical to businesses and policymakers alike. The panel featured Henrik Von Scheel, a highly respected thought leader in the field, as the keynote speaker.

A heated debate on renewable energy

One of the memorable moments of the day came when Will and Henrik clashed on the topic of solar panels and wind energy. The debate became quite intense, with strong words exchanged as both defended their perspectives. However, after a lively discussion Henrik ultimately conceded to Will’s points – a testament to Will’s deep knowledge and passion for the topic.

The discussions continued into the evening at the event’s formal dinner. Richard found himself seated next to Henrik and despite the earlier debate, they managed to get along well. Will wisely, was seated at another table – probably for the best after such an energetic exchange!

The MTC event was a fantastic opportunity for Warren to engage with industry leaders, explore new ideas and strengthen our presence in the manufacturing and defence sectors. Events like these are essential in helping us stay at the forefront of innovation and sustainability – and of course, in ensuring that our voice is heard in the wider industry conversations.

We’re looking forward to turning these connections into opportunities and continuing to push boundaries in sustainable and high-tech manufacturing.

Welcome to the Team: Ella Joins Warren’s Quality Department

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At Warren, we are always excited to welcome new talent to our team and this February, we were pleased to have Ella Cade join our quality department as a Level 3 Business Administration Apprentice.

A new career journey

Ella has made an exciting career transition, moving from a role as a teaching assistant in a local primary school to pursuing an apprenticeship in business administration. This change reflects her eagerness to develop new skills and gain valuable experience in a manufacturing and engineering environment.

As part of the quality department, Ella will play an important role in ensuring that Warren’s high standards are maintained across all aspects of our work. Business administration is a key function in manufacturing, supporting operations, compliance and efficiency – so we are thrilled to have Ella on board as she embarks on this journey.

Getting to know Ella

Outside of work, Ella enjoys spending time at home with her cat and making memories with family. Her passion for organisation and dedication to learning make her a fantastic addition to the Warren team.

We are delighted to support Ella through her apprenticeship, helping her develop her skills and progress in her career. We look forward to seeing her grow in her role and make a valuable contribution to the team.

Welcome to Warren, Ella!