Oxfordshire: LTi Metaltech boss warns lack of skilled staff could force a move

The operations director of one of Oxfordshire’s leading high-tech manufacturers has warned that a shortage of skills may force the company to pursue its expansion drive outside the county, unless it can attract more qualified staff.

LTi Metaltech, which has just invested well over £1 million in securing and equipping a second factory at Milton Park, near Abingdon, specialises in the design and manufacture of high-performance vessels and structures – including MRI scanners – for the healthcare, nuclear and renewable energy sectors.

With a £25m turnover, it already employs more than 100 people, but Phil Lacey says a lack of technical skills and a “can do” approach from potential candidates means at least 10 new vacancies are going unfilled.

“We’re committed to expanding the business, but we’re really struggling to find people with the right expertise, and I think that’s because there’s a significant generational skills gap,” he said. “Our existing engineers and technical experts have been in the trade a long time, and what we’re seeing now is a lack of technical skills among the younger generation.

“We’re investing in new technology at every level, but we still need great people. Once they walk through the door, there’s always a real ‘wow’ factor at just how impressive our facilities are, but the problem is that we’re just not attracting enough candidates of the right calibre and aptitude. Unless we can do so, our expansion needs may mean we will be forced to consider a different location or recruit skilled workers from overseas.”

Lacey believes a combination of a university-focused education, as opposed to the opportunity to learn more technical skills is partly to blame, together with the high cost of living in the county and the draw of big brand name manufacturers.

“Today’s school-leavers have two choices, either to leave and look for a job without any skills, or go to university and find out later that there aren’t enough jobs for graduates,” he said.

“The lack of technical colleges means we’re not growing the essential skills in that middle sector and I have concerns not just for our business, but the future of British engineering and manufacturing as a whole.

“What we see is that where those skills do exist, local people are more attracted to some of the county’s better known manufacturers, albeit often on short-term contracts, rather than choosing the security of a longer-term career with a niche specialist such as ourselves.”

Several of the firm’s existing staff already commute from as far afield as Northampton and Swindon, and while Lacey emphasises ease of access to Milton Park, he wants to attract new employees closer to home in the Thames Valley, who are keen to advance their career in the industry.

To try and develop its own home-grown talent, the company already has an apprenticeship scheme and has also thrown its support behind the new University Technical College, which is due to open in nearby Didcot next year, specialising in science and engineering.

It could however, says Lacey, be “too little, too late” to support LTi Metaltech’s expansion plans. With a new business development manager now on board, the company is already pursuing additional opportunities in the renewable energy and nuclear industries alongside its traditional market, where it manufactures cryogenic pressure vessels used in Siemen’s Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners.