Cummins’ Daventry site has retained Gold ‘Excellent Employer’ status for its engineering apprenticeship programme for a third consecutive year, highlighting the manufacturer’s long-term approach to developing early-career engineering talent.
The recognition comes through the Next Gen Makers Engineering Apprenticeships: Employer Accreditation, which is backed by Make UK and assesses employers on the quality of the apprenticeship experience they provide. The accreditation places particular emphasis on feedback from current engineering apprentices, making their experience the most influential part of the assessment.
According to Next Gen Makers, the process is intended to distinguish employers that go beyond simply recruiting apprentices to provide structured and supportive environments in which young engineers can develop technical skills, workplace behaviours and long-term career capabilities. Cummins’ continued Gold status therefore reflects what the organisation describes as a consistent commitment to its apprenticeship programme rather than a one-off achievement.
Apprenticeships embedded in advanced manufacturing
Cummins Daventry provides a broad engineering environment for apprentices, with the site assembling engines of 38 litres and above for applications including marine, mining, oil and gas, rail, commercial power, data centres, cogeneration and healthcare.
The site combines manufacturing with other elements of Cummins’ UK operations, including a logistics centre and service training school. This provides apprentices with exposure to a range of engineering and operational disciplines, as well as an opportunity to see how their technical training is applied to products used in demanding applications around the world.
At Cummins, we have been running the apprenticeship for over 20 years, and we have been working with Next Gen Makers for the past four years.
This accreditation gives us both guidance and reassurance that we are providing the strongest possible foundation for our apprentices to become the best they can be.
Megan Hill, Manufacturing Engineer, Cummins Daventry
A key element of the company’s approach is its use of former apprentices as mentors for current participants, which, according to Hill, “allows the apprentices to relate to them a lot more, facilitating a much closer working relationship.” She said the accreditation process also provided a mechanism for Cummins to collect feedback directly from apprentices and use it to improve the programme.
Apprenticeship experience at centre of assessment
The Next Gen Makers accreditation is designed to assess the experience of apprentices rather than simply examining an employer’s policies and procedures. This includes whether apprentices feel supported and challenged, whether their views are heard and whether their training provides them with the skills and confidence needed to progress.
For manufacturing employers facing persistent skills shortages, the approach highlights the importance of treating apprenticeships as a long-term workforce development strategy rather than simply an alternative recruitment route.
Cummins’ Daventry operation incorporates the company’s UK logistics centre, which supports both UK manufacturing sites and aftermarket products. This setup provides apprentices with exposure to the wider infrastructure required to support modern manufacturing, including how supply chains, service, distribution and customer responsiveness are coordinated at scale.
The facility also incorporates sustainability technologies, including photovoltaic solar panels, rainwater harvesting and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Cummins says the centre has achieved a BREEAM Outstanding rating, placing it in the top 1% of UK non-domestic buildings for sustainability performance. For apprentices, this creates an environment in which manufacturing, engineering, logistics and sustainability are connected rather than operating as separate disciplines.
Building a long-term engineering talent pipeline
Cummins’ third consecutive Gold accreditation comes as manufacturers continue to look for ways to attract and retain the next generation of engineering talent.
The company said the recognition demonstrates the importance of consistency in apprenticeship provision, with effective programmes requiring employers to continually listen to apprentices and improve their experience. The experience at Daventry also points to the potential value of integrating apprenticeships into wider business strategy, rather than treating early-career recruitment as a standalone initiative.
By combining hands-on manufacturing experience with structured mentoring and feedback, employers can develop people who understand both the technical requirements of their roles and the wider operation of the business.
For Cummins, the continued Gold status provides external recognition of that approach while offering prospective apprentices a measure of the experience they can expect from the manufacturer.
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