Royal award for quality training at Chatteris engineering company

Stainless Metalcraft, based in Chatteris, has been named as a recipient of the Princess Royal Training Award in recognition of its investment in the next generation of engineering talent.

It is the second Royal accolade for the business, which received the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity in April.

The company was one of 43 organisations to receive the award this year and the only business within the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough area.

It was praised for the way its apprenticeship programme had reinvigorated the business, reducing the average age of its workforce by 10 years and staving off a potential skills shortage.

Austen Adams, managing director, said: “We’re really pleased to have received this award, which recognises the investment and hard work the whole team has made to train the next generation of engineering talent, ensuring there are clear pathways into a wide range of engineering careers for local people from a variety of backgrounds.”

He added: “Like all organisations, 2020 has been a challenging year for our business but we are confident that investing in the skills and capabilities of our young people holds the key to creating a skilled, agile workforce that will be well placed to navigate the shifting waters ahead.

“While manufacturing at our Chatteris site has continued throughout the pandemic, our apprentices were initially furloughed as limited space meant we couldn’t guarantee a safe working environment. However, we are now beginning to bring them back on site and are looking forward to celebrating this award with them once the whole team returns in October.”

Kirstie Donnelly, Chief Executive of the City & Guilds Group, which runs the awards, said: “Congratulations to all of the organisations who have achieved the Princess Royal Training Awards standard of excellence this year.

“We know that having a highly skilled workforce will be essential as we start to rebuild our economy post Covid-19, and in increasingly uncertain times making sure we invest in people has never been more important, nor has continuing to showcase the impact it has on organisational success.”