Warren joins skills shortage panel at The Welding Institute

On 7 July, Warren Founder and Owner Richard Bridgman was invited to join a special panel at TWI – The Welding Institute, discussing one of the biggest challenges facing engineering and manufacturing – the shortage of skilled workers, particularly within welding.

The event was a major occasion for TWI, attracting visitors from across the UK and overseas. Throughout the day there were trade stands, lectures, competitions and interactive sessions, alongside opportunities to see some of TWI’s facilities, workshops and latest developments first-hand.

With so much taking place, Richard said it was difficult to fit everything in, but the event was extremely well organised and provided plenty of opportunities to meet people from across the industry.

Among the guests were a number of high-profile dignitaries, including the Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, as well as HRH The Princess Royal, who arrived at the event by helicopter.

After lunch, it was Richard’s turn to take to the main stage for a panel discussion chaired by Professor Steven Jones from the University of Sheffield.

Richard was joined on the panel by Martyn Fletcher of BAE Systems and Dave Whitehouse of Altrad, representing two major international organisations within the aerospace, defence and industrial services sectors.

Richard commented:

“As you can see, it was quite daunting for me standing beside these guys!”

Despite the difference in scale between the organisations represented, the discussion highlighted a challenge they all share – finding, training and retaining the skilled people needed for the future.

Each panellist spoke about their organisation and their approaches to training and recruitment before Professor Jones raised questions that had emerged during the discussion. The session then opened up to questions from the audience.

For Warren, developing skills through apprenticeships, training and opportunities for people to build careers within engineering has been a longstanding priority. Being invited to contribute to a national discussion alongside some of the industry’s largest organisations was a valuable opportunity to share the perspective and experiences of an SME.

Reflecting on the experience, Richard summed it up simply:

“This was quite a day…”