MTA looks to the future

President, Mark Ridgway OBE, reminded members of the MTA’s co-operation with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield, now part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, over the introduction of a commercial engineering apprenticeship pathway and the hosting of the Deputy Prime Minister at the launch of the initiative in February.

"On a wider front your Association is working to ensure that the Catapult centres themselves remain relevant and supportive to the needs of industry in general and our members in particular,” he said.

The President also stressed that the Association needs to ensure the relevance of new government initiatives like the Employer Ownership of Skills programme.

He added: "Any MTA Strategy must have its members’ needs at its core but it ignores at its peril the non-market forces of Government. Aligning the latter to the needs of the former is a major strategic objective for your Association.”