United Kingdom
Bradford-based chemicals company Christeyns has teamed up with other local and regional manufacturers for the third event of the Bradford Manufacturing Weeks, which is taking place entirely online this year.
Bradford Manufacturing Weeks are run by the West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Barclays. They encourage students to start careers in manufacturing.
In order not to be defeated by the situation in Covid-19, the two-week event, which opened on October 5th, was hosted entirely online this year. Christeyns, together with a number of other manufacturers, has taken on the challenge of offering virtual on-site visits, talks with employers, apprentice events and competitions.
The pictured managing director of Christeyns and founder of the initiative, Nick Garthwaite, was determined that the students would not have to miss another important event.
“We all know young people have already missed so much this year, and as an industry, business and industry, we have been fully committed to ensuring that we continue to deliver a career experience that changes the lives of local youth – Bradford's next generation of workers and employers. "
Over the two weeks, students from more than 32 schools took part, and Christeyns “practically” opened its own doors for them to gain firsthand knowledge of the hygiene and laundry business from product design to delivery.
As part of the event program, Christeyn's trainee Harry Coop sat in a virtual group of trainees from other companies and talked to students about his experience in the company, his final training and a typical working day. Other events included groups of executives from companies like Fauzia Raza, Quality Manager at Christeyns, answering questions about their career paths and also about their companies.
Garthwaite commented, “I was overwhelmed by the quality and variety of content for this year's Bradford Manufacturing Weeks, and thank you to everyone who showed up. In a sense, this virtual experience opened conversations with a wider audience, and since all of the content is recorded it can be used over and over again.
"We hope it will inspire future talent who will at some point take our own industrial sector and manufacturing in general on and up."
Manufacturers of products ranging from textiles to automotive components to detergents are involved across the region. All offer insights into the careers of students aged 14-18. This year the event will also include a contest to design a sani station unit with a purse of £ 500 for the winning school.
