A skilled performance

In the opening speech by Chris Humphries, WorldSkills chief executive, we were told that this was the largest ever such event, this being achieved by broadening the skills that were included in the competition. There were 46 under consideration, with some 950 competitors taking part. The opening ceremony saw the assembled audience of competitors, event staff, sponsors and guests taken through 'a tour' of the four countries of the United Kingdom, with representative images on a large screen, dance and music as the accompaniment. It was all very entertaining and enjoyable. But sitting in the Mori Seiki box, and being an ex-apprentice production engineer, I became increasingly aware during the event of the lack of reference, visual or otherwise, to manufacturing technical skills. Even the Deputy Prime-Minister, Nick Clegg, who spoke at the opening ceremony, failed to mention them, instead referring to design and performing arts as those activities that will support the country's future, offsetting an unbalanced economy that had lent too much towards the City. The word 'manufacturing' he did not utter. There did seem to be visual and dance reference to motor mechanics (via use of a tyre in a dance routine) and construction (via a screen image), but that was about it – except for a brief film clip of the exhibition show floor under construction, during which a Mori Seiki machine tool did pop into view, prompting some playful cheers from the Mori Seiki box. It was not possible, I grant, to mention or give equal prominence to all 46 skills explicitly in the opening ceremony or in Mr Clegg's speech. But you might have hoped manufacturing, which is being puffed up by the government, after all, would have been given greater profile. That aside, the actual WorldSkills event, to which Machinery also paid a visit, did showcase a variety of technical and manufacturing skills to a large audience of school children and students, which is rather more the point. In fact, WorldSkills London 2011 was the biggest event ever to have been held at ExCeL London, attracting 200,000 young people across four days, with, it is claimed, the largest ever number of people travelling on London's Docklands Light Railway in a single day. Congratulations, therefore, are due to all concerned for organising, supporting, taking part in and visiting the event. First published in Machinery, November 2011