- "Apprentice of the Year"
- "Best of British Engineering"
- "Skills Innovator of the Year"
- "Special Recognition Award" for Automotive and Aerospace Trailblazer work
Coventry, 27th January, 2015 ‑ Jaguar Land Rover, the UK's leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles, has been presented with four SEMTA Skills Awards at a ceremony in London to celebrate the best of British engineering. The company was recognised for its work to upskill people working in the supply chain and drive up apprenticeship standards in the automotive sector. In addition, Alex Tomlinson, a third year Higher Apprentice at Jaguar Land Rover, was named overall Best of British Engineering and won the Apprentice of The Year category.
Simon Lenton, HR Director at Jaguar Land Rover, said: "We are delighted that our commitment to developing supply chain skills and our investment in our own employees have led to this recognition by SEMTA. We need to do all we can to encourage more talented young people such as Alex to aspire to careers in engineering and manufacturing and to ensure that the UK automotive supply chain is amongst the most competitive in the world."
Alex Tomlinson, 24, from Birmingham, who is a third year Powertrain Emission Test Higher Apprentice at Jaguar Land Rover's Whitley engineering centre at Coventry, was named Britain's Apprentice of the Year and also overall Best of British Engineering.
In his role, Alex has responsibility for running a laboratory which provides engine emission data. He is also an advocate for apprenticeships ‑ designing and running workshops to help inspire young people into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) education. Alex has recently started a degree in Applied Engineering at Warwick University, continuing to further his career with Jaguar Land Rover.
Alex said: "I am absolutely staggered to win. The competition was so fierce. I will just continue to do what I love. I have put so much effort in at work. My ambition is to create a viable engine which doesn't have any emissions ‑ I hope to drive forward the idea to do it within 10 years."
Minister of State for Business, Enterprise and Energy, Matthew Hancock said that Britain's young engineers should enjoy celebrity status just as the famous inventors of the Victorian age were treated like rock stars. "None of the great engineers of the past had a traditional university background. All of them learnt the skills that transformed the nation on the job as apprentices. It is vitally important that the nation regains this buzz. Celebrating success is one way we can do that."
The Skills Innovation trophy was awarded to Jaguar Land Rover for the company's unique programme to upskill people working in its supply chain. In an "industry first", Jaguar Land Rover includes suppliers' tradespeople and semi‑skilled employees in its 14‑week training programme to develop sector‑specific maintenance skills. Results have been powerful, with participants showing significant improvement in competencies when tested at the end of the course and subsequently having the opportunity to take further qualifications.
Ian Eva, Jaguar Land Rover's Apprentice Manager, said: "We needed to be bold and innovative, coming up with ways to enable our supply chain to grow with us. This programme is designed to help drive up our suppliers' key performance indicators so they can provide better quality, on time at the right cost to us and the other car manufacturers."
The fourth honour presented to Jaguar Land Rover was the Special Recognition Award, joint with BAE Systems, for their work in leading the Auto and Aero Trailblazer initiatives to drive up standards of apprenticeships and to ensure workers are equipped with the skills required by the sectors.
Both Jaguar Land Rover and BAE Systems have been key players in leading work across the advanced manufacturing and engineering sectors to ensure several new standards and assessment approaches have been designed and implemented.
Ann Watson, CEO of SEMTA said: "Jaguar Land Rover is a brilliant partnership, providing world class training through a world class company in world class facilities. It is delivering skills for young people to the benefit of the wider supply chain and the UK economy as a whole.
"Our awards have once again unearthed the country's most talented engineers and fantastic companies ‑ all great role models for Great Britain."
