Shaping the Next Generation of Engineering Talent: E3 & Leeds City College
As headline sponsor of Leeds Manufacturing Festival, E3 Recruitment is always looking for ways to support the future of manufacturing and engineering talent in West Yorkshire, not just through recruitment, but by helping shape the skills pipeline at its source.
Andrew Pilling joined fellow Leeds Manufacturing Festival sponsors at Leeds City College‘s Printworks Campus for a curriculum co-design workshop, hosted by Clayton Stott, Head of Engineering and Manufacturing.
The session brought together a strong cross section of industry voices from MPM, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Leeds Welding Company, AW Hainsworth, Pland Stainless and more, alongside David Baggaley, from Leeds City Council who runs Leeds Manufacturing Festival.
What the workshop covered
Employers and sponsors were invited to help co-design the teaching and learning curriculum for the School of Engineering and Manufacturing, with a focus on ensuring students leave college genuinely industry-ready. The session also gave attendees the chance to meet teaching staff and tour the college’s facilities.
” It was a pleasure to contribute my knowledge and experience to a discussion that will help shape the next generation of engineers. Working closely with engineering and manufacturing employers over many years has given me an in-depth understanding of the current skills shortages, recruitment challenges and workforce trends affecting all industry.” – Andrew Pilling, Director at E3 Recruitment
Why this matters
The skills gap in manufacturing and engineering isn’t a new conversation, but workshops like this are where the conversation actually turns into action. Curriculums designed in isolation from industry risk producing graduates who are qualified on paper but underprepared for the realities of the shop floor. By contrast, when employers have a direct say in what’s taught, the result is a curriculum shaped by what businesses actually need, not just what’s traditionally been taught.
For a region with as strong a manufacturing base as West Yorkshire’s, this kind of collaboration matters. It means students get a clearer line of sight into real career paths, employers get a future workforce with the right foundations, and the wider sector benefits from a stronger, more sustainable talent pipeline.
As a recruitment partner working across the industry every day, E3 sees firsthand where skills gaps show up in the hiring process. Being part of conversations like this, helping influence the curriculum at the source, is a natural extension of that role.
“It was encouraging to see educators and employers working together to develop a curriculum that will benefit both future engineers and the wider manufacturing sector.” – Andrew commented
E3’s ongoing commitment
Workshops like this are exactly the sort of collaboration that Leeds Manufacturing Festival was built to encourage, bringing together education, industry and local authority to make sure the next generation of engineers gets it right from day one.
E3 is proud to continue supporting that mission as headline sponsor of Leeds Manufacturing Festival.
