With only 12 days to Subcon at the NEC in Birmingham 2 – 4 June, PRV Engineering are gearing up for what we hope is another successful show. This will be PRVs 8th visit to the highly successful show which has improved and evolved over the years.
In its 32nd year, Subcon provides a meeting platform for buyers, specifiers and key decision makers from all industry sectors. It’s is a great place to meet, compare suppliers, discover and discuss new technologies and to forge new partnerships.
The year has started well with good news about the manufacturing economy. Indicators show that things continued to improve throughout 2014 and the trend is likely to continue into 2015. However, there are still concerns about a shortage of engineers in the UK.
PRV Engineering pride ourselves on being pro active in the industry. We keep an eye on trends and developments to make sure that we can provide the best service possible to our existing clients while attracting new ones at the same time. We want to stay at the cutting edge of engineering.
Continued investment in machinery and staff, means we get the best from both. We keep down time to a minimum, our operations effective and give the best customer service possible. We also continue to expand into wider markets due to our investment in state of the art CNC and 5 axis milling machines.
A lack of young engineers and in particular female engineers, has caused genuine concerns within the engineering industry in recent years.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has given the whole of British industry a significant boost by claiming that young people who choose apprenticeships and vocational training over academic studies will form the country’s ‘economic backbone’.
Speaking at the Skills Show at Birmingham’s NEC, Mr Clegg said; “We need to get beyond this rather fusty, old-fashioned view that the only good thing for a young person to do after school or a college education is to take an academic qualification.
Whether we work inside or outside of the rail industry, we all yearn for a better rail network system and improved facilities.
Network Rail has been working hand in hand with the train operating companies to deliver better stations across England and Wales.
By the time Spring 2015 comes around, the rail industry will have seen major changes and significant development.
A war chest of £150m was set aside, at the outset, as part of the National Stations’ Improvement Programme. The overall plan was to improve over 150 medium-sized stations in areas such as passenger information and facilities.
Earlier this year we reported on the lack of Women in Engineering. This is due, in some part, to the perceptions of what a career in engineering involves.
Studies have shown that many female students believe engineering is all about fixing cars, getting their hands dirty and coming home with black faces and dirty nails. As a result, they steer clear.
It has caused widespread concern. So much so, that earlier this year, business secretary Vince Cable suggested the shortage of engineers, and in particular a shortage of women in engineering, provided a serious threat to recovery.
At that stage – and figures are understood to have changed very little – only 8 per cent of British engineers were women. That compares unfavourably with 15 per cent in Germany, 25 per cent in Sweden and 30 per cent in Latvia.
It goes without saying. If you want engineering done, you need to get it done properly.
From start to finish it’s precisely what PRV Engineering seeks to achieve at its headquarters in Pontypool, South Wales.
“We call it a one stop shop,” said PRV Engineering CEO Simon Jones.
“Our approach, enables us to provide a complex and diverse range of products and services to our customers. In turn, they can satisfy their requirements from a single source.”
“We not only provide superior workmanship, at a price our engineering competitors can’t match, but we also offer personal attention from start to finish of your project.”
Investment, expansion and employment have been the buzz words coming out of PRV Engineering over the past 24 months.
In 2013, managing director Simon Jones invested £1.25million in the company to not only maintain the growth of PRV Engineering, but to ensure that in the future, there would be employment opportunities too.
The addition of an 8000 sq ft building and a 10 tonne overhead crane capacity at the Pontypool site, enabled PRV Engineering to re-enter the fabrication and construction markets. The state of the art equipment made it possible to provide potential customers with a vast range of machined components.
In terms of the company’s decision to invest in people, last year was also a productive year. PRV Engineering employed seven new members of staff in 2013, taking the total number of personnel to 51. Now, that number is set to rise, once again.
If you ask most youngsters these days, they will almost certainly paint the picture of a brown collar worker with dirty hands and overalls. The same goes for many adults too. Therein lies the problem for most engineering company managers who find it increasingly frustrating when it comes to recruitment.
As PRV Engineering managing director Simon Jones said recently; “The problem is this. Kids don’t do metalwork and woodwork in school because of health and safety issues. As a result, they not only don’t know anything about our industry, but they don’t have any desire to pursue a career in engineering. That is why we find it so difficult when it comes to recruitment.”
Having invested more than £1million into the company last year, PRV Engineering Ltd reported a record turnover in 2013. Twelve months on from the installation of the company’s new plating facility, managing director Simon Jones is confident that 2014 will see a repeat performance.
With the company focussed on the construction industry, PRV Engineering is seeking to not only maintain its high standards, but to add a number of new contracts to the order book.
Simon said; “We had our best ever year in 2013, turning over around £4.1million. The plan for this year is very much the same. We want to keep developing and providing the ‘One stop shop’ service on which we pride ourselves.
“It’s failing miserably,” said Simon. “There’s a lack of investment and a real lack of skill. It just doesn’t exist in this country anymore and engineering doesn’t exist in any child’s vocabulary anymore.
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