Member Article

Engineering boss helps youth bridge gap between ambition and achievement

Two black and white photographs of the Tyne Bridge under construction hang on the wall of businessman Richard Dodd’s office.

“This one is my favourite – it shows the very last piece being lifted into place,” he says enthusiastically.

You would be hard pushed to find a homespun northerner more passionate about engineering than Mr Dodd, but then he is group product and engineering director at British Engines Limited, one of the region’s greatest success stories.

And while his company had no hand in the creation of the iconic landmark, he nevertheless feels an affinity towards it.

“We’ve been around for a similar amount of time,” he explains, “and for me the Tyne Bridge encapsulates the long heritage of engineering in this region.”

In fact British Engines Ltd, formed in 1922, predates the bridge, which was officially opened by King George V and Queen Mary in 1928.

Nevertheless, Mr Dodd and his company identify with it so strongly that British Engines has sponsored an event to mark its 85th anniversary on October 10.

He will use the occasion – at Raval Luxury Indian Restaurant in Gateshead – to reaffirm his company’s commitment to the region and its workforce.

And British Engines can rightly be proud of that commitment. The company, which has its headquarters at St Peter’s, Newcastle, employs 1,200 people globally across its six divisions and in the past year alone created 123 new jobs.

In July the group’s pioneering ‘Apprenticeship+’ scheme, which takes on around 20 new recruits a year, became the first in the North East to be awarded a Certificate of Accreditation from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the industry’s leading representative body.

“Firms that have done well have constantly invested in people,” says Mr Dodd. “We started our apprenticeship programme in 1966 and since then we’ve trained more than 600 young people.

“And of all those we employ, over 75% are based in the North East. That’s because we believe in this region – it has a proud engineering past and a very positive future.”

Interest in engineering as a career has risen sharply in recent years, driven in part by the availability of first-class apprenticeship schemes such as British Engines’, which offers young people a real alternative to university.

“Clearly university tuition fees have had an impact and we’re now seeing more young people looking for vocational training,” explains Mr Dodd.

British Engines four-year apprenticeship programme is run in conjunction with Team Valley-based training providers TDR, and competition for places is hot.

This year’s apprentice intake was selected from over 130 applicants.

Mr Dodd adds: “There has been a renewed focus among engineering companies to improve training courses and make them more targeted.

“We’re very proud of ours, and I’m especially proud as my father Ron was one of the leading lights when it came to setting up the programme. It’s one of the reasons he was awarded an MBE two years ago.”

Mr Dodd senior still takes an active role in the company he joined as an apprentice in 1952, before working his way through the ranks to become chairman.

And it’s safe to say his example inspired the young Richard Dodd to follow in his footsteps.

Mr Dodd says: “I remember my dad bringing me in to work with him at weekends when I was as young as three or four, so I suppose I was destined for a career in engineering.

“I did work experience at the site when I was at school, but I had to do things properly in order to get a job here.

“I did my GCSEs and A-Levels and then an 18-month apprenticeship before going to university in Birmingham to study for a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacture and Management.”

He has, however, never looked back and is responsible for one of British Engines’ overseas companies, Bangalore-based British Engines India, a manufacturing and design facility set up in 2001.

He adds: “I travel to India around five times a year on business. It’s one of the reasons I’m such a curry lover, and why I have chosen to sponsor Raval Luxury Indian Restaurant’s event to commemorate the Tyne Bridge.”

“Of all the restaurants in the North East, I believe it serves the most authentic curries, which is why I take British Engines business partners there whenever they visit the UK.”

Raval’s event to mark the bridge’s 85th anniversary takes place on Thursday, October 10. For further details, visit www.ravaluk.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ken Oxley .