The CEA (Construction Equipment Association) will be holding its half-yearly conference – Skills for Profit Day – Tools to Bridge the Skills Gap on Wednesday 25th March at 10.00am at Woodland Grange Conference Centre, Old Milverton Lane, Leamington Spa in Warwickshire.
This CEA event is for the construction equipment industry to get to grips with the challenge of the skills shortage. CEA chief executive Rob Oliver said, “Our 2014 Sector Study showed that most companies had recruitment and skills issues. The conference will look at the supply side – the education pipeline of potential recruits. It will examine the demand side – where the skills gaps are – and what you can do about it. And it will focus on upskilling, and opportunities for outsourcing. We aim to provide enough information and ideas to give your business a tool kit for bridging the skills gap.”
The event is aimed at directors and managers serving the construction equipment sector – and their colleagues from HR also education professionals seeking an insight into sector requirements.
The morning session will commence with a keynote address given by Professor Simon Hodgson, President, Engineering Professors’ Council & Dean, School of Science and Engineering, Teesside University. In a recent analysis of the skills gap for the UK Engineering Sector, Engineering UK, in its annual report: “The State of Engineering” identified that by 2020“… the UK needs to double the number of (suitably skilled) annual recruits into engineering … to meet expected demand” increasing the numbers of graduate engineers produced annually from the current 46,000 to almost 90,000.
This is a BIG ask. In this talk Prof Hodgsson will explore firstly the issue of quantity – if such a pace of growth is possible and what would be required to achieve it, before moving on to consider the issue of quality, and how we can ensure that those individuals being produced by the higher education system also have the skillsets and attributes that are needed by employers, both for the immediate and longer term.
The conference will be moderated by Nick Higham, National TV News Correspondent.
Confirmed Speakers & Panelists
- Prof Simon Hodgson, President of the Engineering Professors’ Council & Dean of the School of Science and Engineering, Teesside University.
- Dr Colin Brown, Engineering Director, Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
- Richard Welford, Chief Global Strategy Officer, Tata Technologies Ltd.
- Christian Warden, Programme Director, Engineering Skills Service, EEF.
- John Finn, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.
- Susan Scurlock, Founder & CEO, Primary Engineer.
- Prof Colin Garner, Director, Caterpillar Innovation & Research Centre, Loughborough University.
- Claire Donovan, Head of Education Policy, Royal Academy of Engineering.
- Lucy Francis, HR Manager, Caterpillar.
To register for the conference and for the full programme click here
CEA Member FOC, Members of the Press FOC (Please contact louise.murphy@aol.com for press accreditation), Non CEA Members £85 + VAT
Should you require further information please contact charlotte.harmer@admin.co.uk
