The £3.4 billion total is equivalent to 30,000 man years of work, or securing 5,500 high-value jobs. Sharing in Growth, which is funded by private and public sector contributions, is so successful that it is providing a 60:1 return on public investment, with the majority of companies on the programme growing at five times the rate of their industry peers.
Among the companies who have increased their competitiveness and secured new contracts are: Castle Precision, which signed a contract valued at £80 million with Rolls-Royce on a six-year programme; JJ Churchill, which signed a turbine blades contract exceeding £70 million with Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace; Martin Aerospace, which just secured a three-year agreement with Rolls-Royce; Produmax, which since joining the programme in 2014 has improved productivity by almost 40%, won three new customers and increased turnover by 55%; and Wibro Group Technologies, which joined Sharing in Growth in 2014 and has since opened a new plant, secured more than £60 million in contracts and created more than 70 jobs.
In 2018, Sharing in Growth delivered more than 700,000 training hours and continued to develop and innovate the programme in line with the demands of global competitiveness. This activity included adding an online hub to reinforce learning; a new directory of engineering innovation partners who can provide training in areas such as additive manufacturing and automation; and the introduction of a Team Leader Training Academy to develop the next generation of leadership.
Says CEO Andy Page: “The UK’s competitors don’t stand still, so we’ve made impactful additions to our programme. Tackling the UK’s lagging productivity is a multi-faceted challenge that requires commensurate scale and intensity, particularly as the advanced manufacturing sector faces the challenges of industrial digitalisation and Brexit.
“Investment in new technology or capital equipment per se will not improve productivity, especially where leadership and management is weak,” he continues. “Sharing in Growth is creating a virtuous growth cycle in our learning and skills community, where improved productivity and competitiveness win contracts which, in turn, provide the funds to invest in people, technology and growth to win even more business. Our exceptional results are testament to the learning capacity of ambitious supply chain companies, and the expertise of our own squad of around 100 specialists.”
There are more than 60 companies on the Sharing in Growth programme across the UK. Each company participates in a bespoke and intense training and business transformation programme that focuses on leadership, culture and operational capability. This function is delivered by SiG’s own team of business coaches, as well as a bank of experts including The University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing, Deloitte and the National Physical Laboratory.
There are limited places left on the government-supported Sharing in Growth programme. Interested companies can register by clicking here
