The 2017 finals held at Grosvenor House, London recognise employers that grow their own talent with apprenticeships.

In 2016 Maycast-Nokes became the first foundry to reach the prestigious Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list, joining blue chip companies including Mercedes Benz, BAE Systems and IBM in being recognized as one of the best employers in the UK for apprenticeships and skills development. This year, in addition to reaching the Top 100, the foundry also won the East of England Regional Finals for the competition before being selected as one of the three national finalists.

Dave Blower, Sales Director at Maycast-Nokes said, ‘becoming the first foundry to reach the finals of the National Apprenticeship Awards means a huge amount to us. Apprenticeships are absolutely fundamental to Maycast’s ability to remain a supplier to the aerospace industry. We undertake a wide variety of complex casting and machining processes in-house so our apprentices have to be well versed in a number of very different engineering disciplines. The high level of training and state-of-the-art equipment (including CNC simulators) at Colchester Institute, Harlow College, BITECH and the Institute of Cast Metal Engineers means our trainees are able to replicate what they have learnt at college and put it into action in the workplace at a faster rate than ever before and we thank them for everything they have done in helping us reach the finals in London.

‘We would also like to thank all of our apprentices (past and present) who have made an invaluable contribution to ensuring Maycast-Nokes’ continued ability to function as an aerospace foundry for many years to come. Beyond the excellent engineering work they do, their enthusiasm and drive in the promotion of apprenticeships in Essex has really helped encourage more school leavers to consider work based training.’

Maycast-Nokes is planning a number of events during National Apprenticeship Week (5^th to 9^th March) and throughout the rest of 2018 to promote apprenticeships and careers in engineering.