Dr Graham Honeyman, Chief Executive
Sheffield Forgemasters International Ltd
Championing Apprentice Training
Dr Graham Honeyman returned Sheffield Forgemasters
International Ltd to profit in just six months when he took over
the loss-making company in 2002.
Within less than three years turnover increased from
£35m to £100m, rising from £83,000 to £150,000 per employee. Today
the company is an internationally competitive business with
investment in people at its core.
Sheffield Forgemasters manufactures large-scale bespoke steel
components for diverse industries, including offshore components
for power generation and components for the Astute nuclear
submarine build. Exports account for 80% of its business.
Investing in the workforce
Boosting apprentice training is something on which the company
leads by example. It employs 795 people, of whom 70 are
apprentices.
“We’re committed to all types of training but to apprentice
training in particular,” Honeyman says. “I recognised there had
been little investment in people here so we’ve been putting a lot
of effort into taking on apprentices and it’s paying dividends. I
think we must have one of the highest levels in the country.”
Securing skills for the future
Apprentice training forms a key part of Sheffield Forgemasters’
succession planning strategy to ensure it has the skills it needs
for the future.
“We don’t poach people from other companies, we grow our own,”
Honeyman comments. “Each of the operations directors on the site is
involved in planning apprentice intake for the future to replace
skills lost through retirement and other reasons,” he says. “We had
to move pretty fast so that our older, experienced workers can
teach their skills to young people before they retire.”
Bringing in apprentices has had a significant impact on the age
structure, reducing the average age of the workforce from 49 to
42.
Developing potential
Honeyman believes it is important that employers identify and
nurture the potential of young people to succeed in engineering.
Several of the company’s apprentices have won awards.
“Schools don’t always teach pupils in the ways of engineering,
but many young people are good at reading drawings and have a lot
of latent talent. Those are the ones who need the opportunity. We
don’t want them stacking shelves in supermarkets, we want them to
be using their skills in engineering and we’re doing a lot at
Sheffield Forgemasters to develop those skills.”
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