Lye based die casting specialists HCM Engineering have appointed their latest Engineering Apprentice following a collaboration between Next Gen Makers and Dudley College.
Jamie Beddall, a former full-time Engineering student at Dudley College, was successful in gaining the position as Apprentice Assembly Technician and commences a five-year Apprenticeship.
“Jamie is joining the company at an exciting time as we continue to invest in new machinery to move the business forward. Alongside that, we believed that the time was right to invest in the next generation of talent at HCM” comments Mike Hanson, Operations Director.
Mike continues: “Our Assembly Technicians are multi-skilled individuals responsible for maintaining, repairing, and manufacturing a range of High-Pressure dies, Low Pressure dies, Gravity dies and Trim tools to a very high standard.
“There is so much for Jamie to learn from us as he develops within the business, and I would say it takes up to 10 years to fully learn our craft. Jamie will work under the instruction of the highly skilled team of Paul Wharton & Richard Johnson”.
Founded in 1969, HCM Engineering have experience in all areas of die casting for a cross section of industry from Automotive – on and off road, Agriculture/Construction, Electrical, Oil and Gas, Leisure and lifestyle.
The company is developing its’ Apprenticeship scheme as a direct result of being involved in the Next Gen Makers Engineering Apprenticeships: Best Practice Programme; learning from and sharing ideas with other manufacturing and engineering firms relating to running successful Apprenticeship schemes.
Alongside this, the company tasked Next Gen Makers with the responsibility of managing the search for their new Engineering Apprentice.
Next Gen Makers worked in collaboration with Dudley College and arranged to engage HCM Engineering in events where they met with final year students that were seeking Engineering Apprenticeships.
Following this, Next Gen Makers vetted interested candidates and arranged interviews for Mike Hanson and the team.
In the background, Next Gen Makers were also busy finding a suitable Apprenticeship for Jamie to pursue with HCM, enabling him to gain the vocational skills to compliment the theoretical knowledge that he possessed from prior study at College.
Jamie follows the appointment of Luke Hanson within the CNC Machining team at HCM Engineering as part of the influx of young talent into the workforce.
Adam Tipper, Managing Director at Next Gen Makers comments: “Jamie has shown a great attitude and appetite to become an Engineer and I am sure he will be a success at HCM Engineering.
“He is certainly in good hands and has a fantastic opportunity to learn a variety of skills whilst working for a company with a fantastic reputation within their field”.
(Above: Luke Hanson joins the CNC Machining team at HCM Engineering)