Webtec, the St Ives, Cambridgeshire based hydraulic measurement and control company are once again sponsoring a budding 16-year-old engineer via the Arkwright Scholarship scheme. This year Ivor Crooks of Linton, Cambridgeshire was awarded the Roy Cuthbert scholarship for 2017 at a prestigious award ceremony in London. The scholarship was named after Webtec’s founder, a passionate engineer and entrepreneur who passed away in 2013.

“People with STEM skills are becoming harder to recruit”, this finding by EngineeringUK in 2015 remains very true in Cambridgeshire today where Webtec still struggle to recruit engineers from the local area. Webtec’s Managing Director, Martin Cuthbert said, “For every engineering vacancy we have at least half of all applicants will be from overseas and most others will be looking to move from the north of England. We want to support the local community but we have a real shortage of local engineering talent coming into the industry”.

Through sponsoring Arkwright scholars, as well as offering apprenticeships and sponsoring sixth formers via the Engineering Education Scheme Webtec hope to grow more local talent.  In the last four years, Arkwright scholars have gained hands-on engineering experience in Webtec’s world-class manufacturing facility in St Ives, Cambridgeshire and Webtec hopes these students will go on to have an exciting career in engineering and manufacturing.

Named after Sir Richard Arkwright – a prominent engineer and entrepreneur during the Industrial Revolution – the Arkwright Engineering Scholarships (www.arkwright.org.uk) were founded in 1991. They cover the whole UK and are awarded to the most promising students after a rigorous selection process comprising: detailed project-focussed application form; teacher’s reference; two-hour engineering problem-solving aptitude exam; an interview hosted at a top university; careful matching to the needs of a sponsoring company.

For further information on Webtec, or to request a work placement, go to www.webtec.com

Posted by Webtec

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