'Teacher-friendly' Renishaw offers education on modern manufacturing

Gloucestershire-based manufacturer Renishaw plc is opening its doors to teachers and pupils as part of a scheme designed to develop working relationships between engineering companies and schools. The Education Business Partnerships (EBP) initiative aims to highlight the many varied career opportunities available within manufacturing industry and to dispel negative industry stereotypes.

Tours of world-class facilities

Within Gloucestershire, Renishaw has three main facilities that are available to tours from teachers and their students. Its head office based at New Mills, near Wotton-under-Edge, houses the majority of the company’s research & development, whilst its main machining facility at Stonehouse (right) has already been hailed by industry commentators as representing the very best practices in machine automation and process quality. At Woodchester, near Stroud, Renishaw’s main assembly operation enables visitors to experience the latest technologies used to automate the assembly of electronic circuit boards.

Speaking about the scheme, Renishaw’s spokesman Chris Pockett said, “Despite popular belief, the UK is actually the 6th largest manufacturing economy in the world and directly employs over 11% of the UK’s workforce. It is important that this success is communicated so that manufacturing is seen as a positive choice of career alongside finance, IT, media and the arts.”

He continued, “Renishaw welcomes the chance to put the record straight about employment within manufacturing. As an ‘end-to-end’ business, we are able to offer attractive career opportunities to younger people in areas as diverse as research, engineering, IT, and marketing, and this year as well as recruiting 10 apprentices, will also offer around 70 placements for undergraduates.”

Renishaw also supported a specific initiative which took place during the recent MACH exhibition in Birmingham, the UK’s largest show for manufacturing industry. The show organiser, the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), held a ‘Teach the Teacher’ day, inviting teachers to hear first-hand from young people working within manufacturing and to see the latest technologies driving advances in sectors as diverse as aerospace, medical and motorsports.

Renishaw was pleased to offer itself as a ‘teacher-friendly’ stand, where its staff gave demonstrations to teachers on the wide range of applications for the company’s market-leading range of precision measurement equipment. Two of Renishaw’s recent graduate recruits also gave a presentation to teachers about their experiences within a manufacturing company and then guided teacher groups around various trade stands.

Teachers interested in viewing any of Renishaw’s facilities are asked to contact Simonne Watts on 01453 524434.

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