In response to the skills shortage in the UK engineering sector, the RAEng has selected Lontra as being among the companies with the highest potential, to become part of the Pathways to Growth training initiative. The programme will accelerate the up-skilling of Lontra’s team of engineers, and ensure that they have the most cutting edge techniques to fuel British success in the global engineering sector.
Catherine Lawrence, programme manager for the RAEng’s Enterprise Hub said: “As engineering advances and companies continue to mature, investing in skills grows more and more important and critical to business development. Our Pathways to Growth awards help UK engineering companies achieve this, with the longer term aim being to rectify the current skills shortages that are affecting growth within the sector to ensure the UK remains a powerful global force in engineering.”
Lontra is challenging established market preconceptions about air compression and delivering energy saving innovations to support the development and growth of British businesses in both the engineering and manufacturing sectors. With access to the latest engineering techniques unlocked through the Pathways to Growth award, Lontra’s engineering team will continue to develop their expertise and exemplify the very highest excellence in design engineering.
Steve Lindsey, founder and CEO of Lontra said: “Engineering UK’s report in 2015 revealed that engineering employers have the potential to generate an additional £27bn per year from 2022, which is equivalent to the cost of building 1800 secondary schools or 110 new hospitals. These figures are hugely positive, but the reality is that if Britain is to benefit economically from this, we will need to meet the forecasted demand for 257,000 new engineering vacancies in the same timescale. Unfortunately, this will not be achieved if young British engineers lack the skills to fill these roles.
“The Royal Academy of Engineering has committed to investing in skills development in UK engineering and has created this fantastic award which will support Lontra in continuing its work as a leading innovator within the sector. This will ultimately assist us in our ambitions to take control of a global compressor market worth £25bn; it will also assist Britain in its goal to compete with overseas markets, which are currently more advanced than ourselves in terms of research, development and training.”