Nurturing Tomorrow's Engineers Today

Wednesday 22nd July 2015

Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group now part of the 5% Club, affirming its commitment to encouraging youth employment in industry.

Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group has joined The 5% Club, an industry-led initiative focussed on driving momentum into the recruitment of apprentices, graduates and sponsored students.

The 5% Club campaign aims to tackle skills shortages and youth unemployment in the UK by asking public and private companies to commit to 5% of their work force being apprentices, graduates and sponsored students, within the next five years.

Dr Sam Healy, Programme Director of The 5% Club, said: "We're delighted to welcome Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group to the initiative. The company is renowned for its commitment to training and apprenticeship programmes, and having Marshall sign up to The 5% Club sends an extremely positive message out to industry. They set a shining example."

Marshall has maintained an unbroken apprentice training programme for more than 95 years and has trained over 10,000 apprentices and many of the company's senior managers and the majority of Directors began their careers as apprentices or graduates.

In addition, earlier this year the company unveiled the Marshall LaunchPad Scholarship scheme. Developed by a group of young engineers from the business, none of whom are older than 22 years old, the scheme aims to provide support, experiences and opportunities in engineering and related topics for those aged 8 to 18.

Steve Fitz-Gerald, CEO of Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, comments: "Young people are the lifeblood of our industry, we have and are continuing to encourage and provide a path for school children, students and graduates to pursue a career in engineering and industry. I started my career as an apprentice and I am passionate about attracting, retaining and developing the future generations to this wonderful industry that has so much to offer."

In 2008 Marshall established AeroAcademy which offers a variety of training opportunities for students, which include advanced apprenticeships, industrial placements for engineering undergraduates, a foundation certificates and degree in Aerospace Engineering (MRO) which combine academic studies and hands-on training.

The importance of apprenticeship programmes was recognised in last month's 'Sector Insights: skills and performance challenges in the advanced manufacturing sector' report produced by UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). It said: "Some employers report that offering apprenticeships has enabled them to address skills and performance challenges, as well as helping to recruit production and process engineers. Other employers within advanced manufacturing could assess the benefits of offering apprenticeships, and ensure they have clear pathways in place to enable progression to higher-level technical and professional roles."

To find out more information about The 5% Club and how to become a member, please visit www.5percentclub.org.uk information about the campaign can also be found on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

About Marshall Aerospace

Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group (www.marshalladg.com) is a leading independent aerospace and defence company, specialising in the conversion, modification, maintenance and support of military and commercial aircraft, business aviation services (including sales, charter services), the design and manufacture of special mission vehicles and shelters for the armed forces and humanitarian aid organisations, and the provision of personnel and training into advanced engineering sectors.

The company's primary customers are major platform OEMs - such as Boeing, Airbus, BAE Systems, Bombardier, Lockheed martin and Embraer - commercial airlines (supported through cabin upgrades, including IFE upgrades, and refinishing programmes) and major MRO organisations.

The company has more than 80 years' experience in aviation and a full-spectrum engineering capability that includes project/product conception, design, manufacture, test, certification, integration/embodiment, in-service support and legacy platform/system sustainment. These capabilities have been exported to more than 30 countries and the company is working with 10 of the world's air forces in relation to the C-130 platform.

Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group is headquartered in Cambridge, where it employs more than 1,750 highly trained personnel on its 800 acre site, which includes 1.2 million ft2 of hangar space plus the company-owned Cambridge Airport. The company also has two other sites in the UK (Broughton in Flintshire, Wales and Kirkbymoorside in Yorkshire) and offices in Australia, Canada and The Netherlands.

Recent industry accolades include:

• 2014 - A Boeing Supplier of the Year Award in recognition of Marshall's performance in manufacturing and supplying fuel tanks for the US Navy P-8 maritime reconnaissance fleet. This award was one of only 15 to be issued to Boeing's 23,000+ suppliers.

• 2013 - A Royal Air Force's Chief of the Air Staff's Commendation in recognition of Marshall's role in 'Operation Weatherman', an extreme weather damage recovery project which restored five C-130s to airworthiness.

• 2013 - Queen's Award for Enterprise (Innovation category) for the design and delivery of the world's first deployable CT scanner.

• 2013 - Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology (Min DEST) Award for the rapid conversion of two commercial BAe 146-200QC (Quick Change) aircraft to RAF inventory.

• Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group is part of the Marshall Group, which employs more than 4,500 worldwide and which has a turnover of £1.3 billion.

http://marshalladg.com/careers/