The managing director of one of Leeds’ most renowned niche manufacturing companies is backing calls for more to be done to encourage young people to get into the region’s sector.

Tracey Dawson, MD at Daletech – a niche manufacturing firm specialising in low volume, high quality electronics, has said more needs to be done by the Leeds’ city region’s educational system to encourage the development of ‘fresh talent’ and ensure the manufacturing industry’s sustainability.

Daletech, are taking part in this month’s Leeds Manufacturing Festival and are proud employers of apprentices.

Apprentices with the right attitude can go far.

Said Tracey: “Apprenticeships are a really good way of getting young people in. We want people who can grow with the business, who we can upskill. It’s about attitude – if they’ve got that, we can teach everything else.”

“We got one of our apprentices thanks to our links with the local UTC, sadly the local education system doesn’t seem to promote apprenticeships as a viable option for young people.”

“We are looking to grow our team even more and are currently aiming to recruit two new apprentices, this time they will be in the business admin team, looking after purchasing and goods inward.”

“Because we’ve been going for over 30 years we have great expertise, we’ve got through the journey of changing technology and continue to be at the forefront of technology. ”

“Working with us young people get to be a part of a really interesting company. We get involved in some really weird and wonderful stuff from bird trackers, to baby monitors and some really secret stuff!”

Thousands of career opportunities in Leeds.

Leeds is the third largest manufacturing centre in the country by local authority area with around 1,800 SME manufacturers and the Festival, organised by Leeds Manufacturing Alliance, will provide a series of events opening the doors of many of these companies to young people and local communities.

The Leeds Manufacturing Alliance hopes more manufacturers in Leeds will get involved in the Festival and are urging more to come forward and help inspire our next generation. It is also hoped that the Leeds Manufacturing Festival will become an annual event which will help towards fundamentally changing perceptions about the sector.