Lontra, the innovator behind the Blade Compressor, has been awarded £10,000 by the Royal Academy of Engineering to further advance the capabilities of its team and secure its position as one of Britain’s most exciting and innovative engineering companies.
Providing leadership and promoting excellence across all fields of engineering, the Academy recognises the skills shortages within the UK engineering circuit and has selected Lontra as being among the companies with the highest potential, to become part of a new training initiative.
The programme will accelerate the up-skilling of Lontra’s team of engineers, and ensure that Lontra’s engineers have the most cutting edge techniques to fuel British success in the global engineering sector.
The Pathways to Growth awards support training programmes that will improve the skills of engineering entrepreneurs and specialist engineers within the best UK technology companies.
Lontra will invest the award in the further development of its team and innovative products, something that will give it a crucial advantage over its core competitors.
Lontra is challenging established market preconceptions about air compression and delivering superior energy saving innovations to support the development and growth of British businesses in both engineering and manufacturing sectors. With access to the latest engineering techniques unlocked through the Pathways to Growth award, Lontra’s already talented engineering team will continue to develop their expertise and further exemplify the very highest excellence in design engineering.
Steve Lindsey, founder and CEO of Lontra, and shortlisted TM Top 100 2014 commented: “Engineering UK’s report in 2015 revealed that engineering employers have the potential to generate an additional £27bn per year from 2022, which is equivalent to the cost of building 1,800 secondary schools or 110 new hospitals.
“These figures are hugely positive, but the reality is that if Britain is to benefit economically from this, we will need to meet the forecasted demand for 257,000 new engineering vacancies in the same timescale.
“Unfortunately, this will not be achieved if young British engineers lack the skills to fill these roles.
“The Royal Academy of Engineering has committed to investing in skills development in UK engineering and has created this fantastic award which will support Lontra in continuing its work as a leading innovator within the sector.
“This will ultimately assist us in our ambitions to take control of a global compressor market worth £25bn, it will also assist Britain in its goal to compete with overseas markets, which are currently more advanced than ourselves in terms of research, development and training.”
Catherine Lawrence, programme manager for the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub said As engineering advances and companies continue to mature, investing in skills grows more and more important and critical to business development.
“One of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s strategic aims is to support the development of successful engineering innovation and businesses in the UK in order to create wealth, employment and benefit for the nation.
“Our Pathways to Growth awards help UK engineering companies achieve this, with the longer term aim being to rectify the current skills shortages that are affecting growth within the sector to ensure the UK remains a powerful global force in engineering.”
