Comment: Kids are key for manufacturing to thrive again

There’s a general misconception across Scottish and British society that the manufacturing industry is on the retreat and can never be what it once was. The fact is, manufacturing is still very much alive and the future can be one of extraordinary opportunity – but only if we go about things very differently.

We need to invest by enthusing children with the possibilities of engineering from the earliest ages. Picture: Malcolm Cochrane

My company, Allied Vehicles Group employs more than 700 people at its 32-acre site at Possilpark, where we manufacture wheelchair accessible cars, minibuses and taxis. We are the UK’s largest British-owned vehicle manufacturer, and one of a number of engineering successes that Scotland and the UK as a whole need to replicate to create a thriving manufacturing future. Allied designs and develops products in north Glasgow that are sent to the four corners of the UK; it’s exciting, too, that our products are now going to continental Europe. This development means that it is vitally important that we do not face tariffs that hold back our export business, which has the potential to create even more jobs in Glasgow.

If we are to have a manufacturing future in Scotland, we really do need to invest in it by enthusing children with the possibilities of engineering from the earliest ages. Allied has been involved for years in a scheme to get science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education into primary schools in particular, working in some of the most deprived areas in Scotland. As a Possilpark native, I have seen for myself how children and young people here may never even get a chance to become involved in engineering and manufacturing, which can take all manner of forms – from assembly to working on a computer.

Make no mistake though, although areas like North Glasgow are classed as deprived, there is no dearth of talent and enterprising thinking here. I’ve seen it first hand, with children building the most imaginative electric vehicles at the events that we fund and participate in as part of the UK-wide Primary Engineer programme. At Allied, we also bring children into the factory to see the latest equipment and production techniques. I’ll never forget one girl’s surprise when she was introduced to our (female) production director, who oversees 200 employees. You could almost see her thinking: “This could be something for me.”

In Scotland, we are fortunate to have some of the world’s best engineering and technological universities. Our inventiveness as a nation is legendary, too. But for our society and economy to succeed, we have to encourage this engineering and technological drive from the earliest age. Manufacturers everywhere need to get out and spread the word, bringing youngsters in to see what they do. It’s all about getting young people to see – and then seize – the life chances that engineering can offer.

- Gerry Facenna, chairman and CEO at Allied Vehicles Group.