Manufacturers open their doors to inspire next generation

Manufacturers including Pennine Healthcare and Bennett Engineering have been helping inspire school and college students as part of National Manufacturing Day.

As part of the event, organised by Make UK, and with the support of the East Midlands Manufacturing Network (part of East Midlands Chamber), both businesses open their doors to students to help highlight the sector’s diversity and career opportunities.

The aim of the day is to give school-leavers, graduates and local residents a chance to go behind the scenes at manufacturing firms to learn how they operate.

Medical device manufacturer Pennine Healthcare tasked students from Anthony Gell School in Wirksworth and John Port Spencer Academy in Etwall with an ‘assembling challenge’ to make their own procedure packs, after learning about quality, accuracy and the importance of following procedures in medical devices.

Dan Wilson, Pennine’s head of marketing and communications, said: “We are committed to realising our purpose: ‘Protecting Life. Empowering Colleagues. Enriching Communities’ – each and every day.

“By hosting National Manufacturing Day 2025 and welcoming local schools into our facilities, we have been able to demonstrate this commitment in practice.

“It was an excellent day, and I hope we have helped to inspire the manufacturers of the future.”

Meanwhile, Bennett Engineering hosted students from St Andrews Academy in Derby and tasked them to decorate items ready to sell at their Christmas Fayre.

Director Seleena Creedon said: “To show the St Andrew’s students what we do as an engineering business within our industrial unit helps to show them what employment opportunities are available to fit their skills.

“National Manufacturing Day gives the students a chance to get hands on and leave with a ‘product’ they have been involved in making.

“This is a great outcome for them, and I really am glad we can open our doors and welcome students in.”

Vicki Thompson, the chamber’s head of skills, said: “Once again, it was tremendous to see so many firms in the East Midlands embrace Make UK’s National Manufacturing Day.

“With the sector such a powerful driving force behind the region’s economy, we cannot shout about its importance enough.

“We absolutely must champion the superb manufacturers we have here whenever we can – after all, this is a region known far and wide for making and creating.

“Giving the next generation in schools and colleges the chance not just to see how a manufacturer operates but go through the process of making a product themselves is incredibly valuable.

“If that inspires a young person to enter the industry, we can be sure of a strong future ahead.”