The company is supporting VTST (The Vulcan to the Sky Trust) – a British Charity that owns and operates Vulcan XH558, a jet-powered, delta-wing strategic bomber, previously operated by the RAF.
Specifically, Mills CNC is aiding VTST's ambitious Operation 2015 project, which is designed to extend XH558's flying life and, in doing so, inspire the next generation of young people to consider and pursue a career in engineering and manufacturing.
Leamington-based Mills CNC supplies advanced machine tools and turnkey manufacturing solutions to the aerospace and defence sector and, through its independently-operated training arm – The CNC Training Academy – delivers CNC programmer and operator training to UK and Irish manufacturers.
Explains Nick White, Mills CNC's sales director: "It is well documented that the UK needs more engineers and more scientists to help it compete and win on the world stage, but we just aren't attracting sufficient numbers of talented young people into the manufacturing sector.
"We, through our award-winning CNC Training Academy, are doing our bit to improve the technical skills and competences of our customers and the wider manufacturing community, and are active supporters of initiatives that address the skills shortage in the sector.
"Operation 2015 is a case in point. This initiative represents an exciting and complex real and relevant turnkey engineering project that is focused on the Vulcan V bomber, an iconic aircraft that is instantly recognisable and that the general public at large has an obvious and emotional attachment to.
"Through the publicity generated by Operation 2015, and with VTST's outreach education programme, I am confident that the project will help challenge young people's often negative perceptions about careers in engineering and manufacturing. And that has to be a good thing.
"And this is why we're proud to be involved and associated with such an inspirational heritage project."
• VTST operates an Avro Vulcan jet-powered delta wing former strategic bomber previously operated by the Royal Air Force. A programme to restore the aircraft to enable it to fly at air shows was started in 1998 and was supported by a £2.7 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
In 2007, the Vulcan returned to the air as a flying tribute to those that operated the V-bombers. As part of the work of the Trust, the Vulcan and the related educational programmes are used to promote science, technology and Cold War history, and to inspire young people to become engineers.
Since May 2011, XH558 has been based at Doncaster Robin Hood Airport, formerly RAF Finningley, which was used as a V-bomber base during the Cold War.
