Next Gen Makers’ national Engineering Skills Conference has sold out, with over 200 people registered to attend on Thursday 22nd October 2026.
The free half-day event takes place at the Lloyds Bank Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre (AMTC) at Ansty Park, Coventry, running from 9:30am to 2pm.
This year’s Conference is supported by Event Partner Eplan. For the first time, the Conference also welcomes the Design & Technology Association as its Charity Partner, helping to promote the charity’s worthwhile initiatives.
Demand reflects the growing appetite among engineering and manufacturing employers to share what works in apprenticeships and early careers. It builds on the success of last year’s Conference, which also welcomed over 200 attendees, with feedback describing the speaker lineup as one of the most comprehensive some delegates had seen at an early careers event.
The Conference brings together speakers and delegates from across UK engineering and manufacturing for a day of insight, best practice sharing and networking. Attendees will:
- Discover strategies to build a resilient early careers talent pipeline
- Understand how to create the ultimate apprentice experience, via a live Apprentice Panel Discussion and audience Q&A
- Learn how to leverage inclusion to attract more diverse talent
- Uncover how other organisations are mentoring and developing their apprentices
- Build their network with industry and education contacts over lunch
Keynote speakers include Gemma Marsh, Deputy CEO of Skills England, Dawn Helsby of Schneider Electric, Michael Jones of Merlin Entertainments, Olivia Lane of Amazon, Michael Clark & Megan Hill of Cummins Inc, Daniel Kettleborough of Davicon Group, Nick Worrall, International Retention Manager at Eplan and Cathryn Moses-Stone, Policy & Public Affairs Lead at Enginuity.
The ever popular Apprentice Panel Discussion also returns, giving the employer audience first-hand insight from a diverse range of apprentices. This year’s panel features Tee-Jay Smithen of British Engines Group, Josie Knowles of Network Rail, Faith Varghese of Parker Meggitt, Joshua Tether of The HEX Group and Olivia Lane of Amazon.
Next Gen Makers Managing Director Adam Tipper comments: “Every year this Conference gets bigger, and the appetite from employers to learn from each other keeps growing with it.
“Seeing over 200 people register for this year’s event reflects the commitment engineering employers are making to their apprentices and early careers talent.
“Bringing this calibre of speaker together whilst also uniting industry and education, at no cost to attendees, is exactly what Next Gen Makers is here to do,” adds Tipper.
Tickets for the Engineering Skills Conference 2026 are now fully booked. Registered delegates who can no longer attend are asked to cancel their ticket via Eventbrite so the place can be released.
Employers looking to share apprenticeship and early careers best practice throughout the year can find out more about the Next Gen Makers Best Practice Programme, or connect with Next Gen Makers on LinkedIn to hear about future events.