The shortage of new talent that continues to hamper growth in the manufacturing and engineering industries is the focus of the Leeds Manufacturing Festival, which returns this month with a packed programme running through to September.

The festival, which kicks off this week at a high-profile launch event at Leeds City College Printworks Campus, is focused on raising the profile of the diverse range of careers in the sector that are on offer for young people.

Amanda McLaren, managing director of Leeds textile manufacturer AW Hainsworth, leads the speaker line-up at the launch event. She will tell an audience of manufacturing employers and other industry insiders how the drive for innovation and a commitment to sustainability has played a key role in attracting younger people into the business.

Since Amanda joined AW Hainsworth in 2020, a “generational shift” has taken place, with 29% of the company’s workforce now aged 35 or under, the result of a proactive strategy of taking part in apprenticeship fairs, partnering with colleges and universities and giving young people access and industry insights at its state-of-the-art Pudsey mill.

Leeds Manufacturing Festival organisers say connecting students at schools and colleges with the dozens of Yorkshire manufacturing and engineering businesses involved in the initiative is more crucial than ever to bridge the skills gap and secure the future of the sector.

Some of the biggest names in manufacturing and engineering are backing this year’s festival, as well as many smaller firms, with the programme of events playing a major role in helping companies to recruit vital new talent through new apprenticeships and traineeships.

In addition to AW Hainsworth, precision tool manufacturer MA Ford Europe, Technical Control Systems and Facultatieve Technologies have joined forces with other employers backing the festival as sponsors this year, in the drive to attract high quality, engaged younger candidates.

Chris Black, managing director of Leeds-based jukebox manufacturer Sound Leisure and spokesperson for the 2025 festival, said: “Every year the Leeds Manufacturing Festival gets better and more effective at connecting keen, motivated young people with top-class manufacturing and engineering employers, large and small, who have great careers on offer across the region.

“We have seen that the festival is very successful in punching through and we are making a real impact on young people’s awareness of manufacturing as a well-paid and fulfilling career choice, and the skills that they need to acquire at school or college in order to pursue any of the diverse range of jobs and apprenticeships available in the industry.”

The line up of speakers at Thursday's launch event includes award-winning Leeds engineering apprentice Cameron Pinder from medical device manufacturer Kirkstall Precision Engineering and Poppy Bramford, senior policy manager at Enginuity, the UK charity aimed at closing the skills gap in engineering and manufacturing.

Highlights of this year’s festival programme include company visits, careers showcases and school careers panels that will enable students to meet employers, as well as company visits and insight days, a Women in Engineering and Manufacturing event, as well as the hotly anticipated annual Leeds Manufacturing Festival Awards which take place in June and celebrate some of the outstanding younger people working in the industry.